Lord Xie Is Back to His Old Self Again

[Climbing the rankings, updating every other day. This is my first novel, and I will definitely finish it, so feel free to add it to your collection. Thank you for your support!]

PS: I revise the text on weekends.

The aloof, sensitive senior court official

VS

The timid yet brave interpreter

Blurb:

When Gu Zhenhe saw Xie Lanyan again, he thought wearily: What unfinished grudge from my past life could possibly justify Heaven sending this troublesome man to pester me?

"If I remember correctly, three people are supposed to be on duty at the Secretariat in the middle of the month. Why are you the only one here today?"

Without looking up, Xie Lanyan stared at the document in his hands. "The wording is clumsy and easy to misinterpret. Rewrite it."

Right. There were three of them. One had gone home to care for a sick relative, and the other had been beaten so badly by his father that he couldn't leave the house. Gu Zhenhe had worked himself to the bone alone for half a month, then delivered a thick stack of documents that he had revised over and over to the Secretariat, only to hear this lukewarm criticism.

"Bang!"

Xie Lanyan's desk was suddenly struck with a fist. The hand holding the next edict trembled almost imperceptibly, and he frowned at Gu Zhenhe.

"That's enough. I'm done with this job."

Gu Zhenhe spat out the words, spun around, and stormed off, anger visible in every step.

She actually talked to her superior like that. Looks like the honest one has finally been driven to a breaking point.

The day Gu Zhenhe's identity as a woman was exposed, a once-in-a-century blizzard swept over the riverbanks of Jiangnan and the distant mountains beyond.

The dilapidated mountain hut could not keep out the cold.

She saw Xie Lanyan's lips tremble slightly. In the end, he said nothing. He only walked over slowly and covered her bare, shivering skin with his own clothes.

"I'm sorry."

She felt his helplessness, and the cold tear that fell into the hollow of her neck.

The knife in Gu Zhenhe's hand shook violently. Only then did she realize that the resolve she had once been so certain of had completely crumbled.

Xie Lanyan, you look down on everyone and everything. Could you really feel my hurt, my confusion, my pain, and even shed tears for me?

Only now do I realize that I can't kill you.

Reader's guide:

① 1v1, both leads are sexually inexperienced, HE

② Plot-driven, with a slow-burn romance

③ The court and official system are fictional, based on Southern Qi. There may be occasional inaccuracies, so history buffs, read at your own risk.

Upcoming historical novel: The Vixen Empress's Guide

Blurb:

The Crown Prince submitted a memorial in the Hall of Diligent Governance, then glanced at the emperor on the throne.

Q: Father, how did you make Mother stop being angry?

Emperor Mingwu, Xiao Chang, fell silent for a moment, as if recalling the past.

"Your mother is usually quite reasonable. There was just that one time... Never mind, you're married now... Some things can be settled in bed."

"What? You can't even placate the Crown Princess? Useless."

"I had to snatch your mother away from her back then, right out of someone else's hands."

The Crown Princess took her notebook and a stool to Fengyi Palace.

Q: Mother, how did you come to enter the palace?

Meng Chun yawned.

"Well... I have to thank the husband of the Princess of Pingyang. If he hadn't insisted on divorcing me back then, I wouldn't have taken such a desperate gamble and run to the emperor to cry about it.

"And then? What else could he do? Your father fell for me while I was crying."

"Sometimes you have to placate a man too," Meng Chun said, raising an eyebrow.

"Use your looks and your tears to fool him. Make him pine for you until he can't think straight."

Meng Chun smiled.

"Your father still thinks he went to all that trouble to win me for himself. Hahaha..."

Theme: How could one bow and scrape before the powerful?