Meeting Jasmine

[Saving this for my next book, “Your Highness, Have You Given Up on Me?” Blurb at the end]

In Yu Moning's eyes, her senior brother had always been arrogant and sharp-tongued.

She hated him.

Even after dying a cruel death in her previous life and being reborn alongside him, she still didn't want to talk to him any more than necessary.

She was afraid they'd argue, and she'd end up unable to stop herself from stabbing him.

In Su Wensui's eyes, his junior sister was lazy, stupid, and ill-tempered, always going against him.

He refused to admit she was his junior sister.

But their master wanted them to get along, so he had no choice but to travel with her.

Protecting a fool would be no trouble for him.

Wait, why was this fool growing so fast?!

After experiencing despair in her previous life, Yu Moning gripped her sword and began training day after day.

A sword had to be fast, accurate, and ruthless.

Then she could kill her enemies.

And scare her senior brother a little, too.

Tsk... It seemed he wasn't scared?

As they traveled together, their physical contact grew more frequent. Their unthinking displays of concern and accidental exchanges of glances left them both at a loss for words.

Could it be... they were going to become harmonious senior and junior disciples?

The thought made them both shudder.

Su Wensui had thought the most that would happen between him and Yu Moning was that they'd get along a little better, like normal senior and junior disciples.

But for some reason, he felt displeased when he saw his junior sister smile at other disciples.

Not only that, he was also... also afraid that Yu Moning would grow strong enough not to need him anymore!

Oh no. Had he gone crazy?

It wasn't until they ran into danger and he was badly wounded that Yu Moning cut a path to safety for him with her sword.

Her soft hand clasped his tightly, and the girl's eyes shone like sparks in the night:

“Senior Brother, hold on to my hand.”

“Let's escape together.”

The wind roared in his ears. He turned to look at her face and heard his own heartbeat loud and clear.

It grew faster and faster, pounding like thunder.

Only then did Su Wensui realize that he'd fallen in love with Yu Moning.

(Extra scene 1)

Master: Xiao Sui and Xiao Ning, go exorcise some demons together~

Yu/Su: Who wants to work with that arrogant jerk/fool!

(Extra scene 2)

At last, the girl he'd been longing for appeared before him. It didn't matter that every move she made was meant to kill him.

The young man grabbed the hand of the girl he loved and smiled without a care:

“I found you.”

[Reader's guide / Content notes]

1. One-on-one romance, both leads have only ever been with each other, happy ending, heroine grows over time, with a secondary couple.

2. The leads bicker and clash in the early chapters. The male lead falls first later on.

3. My own take on cultivation, with plenty of original worldbuilding. The romance and plot each make up half the story.

4. Written to my personal tastes. Not a story about an all-powerful heroine, not perfect characters, and not a wish-fulfillment story. The heroine starts out weak and grows stronger later. It's about a couple who go from hating each other to falling in love and solving one problem after another together~

“Your Highness, Have You Given Up on Me?”

Obsessive, unhinged man × bright, forthright woman | Winning her back at any cost | Taking her by force

At seventeen, Shang Qiaoyin experienced the stirrings of first love and fell for a handsome young man with a low-ranking official post.

As the beloved princess of the Great Yan Kingdom, she had never lacked for love. It came in many forms: false, half-hidden, and always presented as the most sincere.

So she gave him her heart, only to become a captive after her country fell.

She watched him walk toward her, step by step, his hands covered in bright red blood.

The blood belonged to her father, her brothers, and perhaps soon, to her as well.

In a daze, Qiaoyin remembered the night the young man had grabbed her wrist and run with her, gasping for breath.

“So, Your Highness, do you want to elope with me?”

If she were asked to answer again now, she would say:

No.

*

He had seen the lights of a thousand homes with her and poured out his heart beneath the moon. Their thrilling, daring, reckless escapades had set her heart racing, and she'd willingly stepped into the trap called desire.

Later, he imprisoned her in the palace.

He watched the face that had always smiled at him become streaked with tears.

He watched her pick up a little knife and drive it viciously into his shoulder.

Pain spread through him.

Yet he only smiled, took her wrist, and pulled the knife out.

Then he aimed it at his own heart.

“A Yin, that's wrong.”

As if soothing a lover, he gently showed her what to do.

“Stab here.”

The blade pierced flesh, and his eyes brimmed with darkness and madness.

“Don't cry so pitifully, Your Highness.”

*

“Whether it's love or hate doesn't matter anymore. We are destined to be entangled for the rest of our lives. From the moment we met, fate bound us together.”

Theme: Beyond the darkest clouds, the sun breaks through again.