Bright Candles Light the Southern Sky

[A Buddhist monk deeply in love x a clever, courageous, reed-like princess of a fallen kingdom]

[Completed manuscript ready, definitely won't be abandoned, forbidden romance]

After the fall of the Jiang Kingdom, Jiang Nanzhu, the princess once cherished by everyone, was reduced to scavenging for food. She struggled her way out of a pit filled with thousands of corpses and vowed to turn Southern Chen upside down. She never expected to fall in love with a monk who was always telling her to put down her weapons.

There was no helping it. Li Cunzhen was exceptionally handsome, like a piece of warm, lustrous jade. From the moment she was rescued and saw his face, she regretted that such a man had become a monk.

Jiang Nanzhu hid in the temple for ten years, calling him “Master” every day. He taught her to read and fight, stood up for her and took responsibility on her behalf, yet always refused to let her get close.

She kept taking one step after another toward him, like the demoness in a strange tale who would not leave the holy monk alone.

But ten years of sutra recitation had done nothing to extinguish the infernal fire in Nanzhu's heart. She would risk death a thousand times over to restore her kingdom. She still resolved to leave, refusing to let him stop her.

When they met again, he still pushed her away.

Only then did Jiang Nanzhu realize that an impassable gulf lay between them.

“So you're going to strip away your emotions, sever your desires, and shut everything out, including me.”

He could only remain silent, his fists clenched.

“Master, don't try to save me.”

She turned and left, plotting revenge and risking her life at every turn, as if she had completely cast him from her thoughts.

But the man who recited sutras before the Buddha could no longer sleep, his heart forever on edge. Even if he pretended not to know what made him anxious, Heaven and the Bodhisattvas knew.

He would never get past this trial she posed, not in this lifetime.

It was only when she entered the trap herself and agreed to marry another in someone's place that Li Cunzhen truly panicked.

Amid the falling snow, she watched him plead desperately and answered, word by word, “Master, we are not meant to be. We should let go now.”

Li Cunzhen stood straight as a pine, the Buddhist beads of giant clam shell at his neck almost hidden from view. He lowered his eyes.

“What if I were to leave the monastery?”

1. HE. The male lead is the typical tough-talking, soft-hearted type. Both leads have had no prior partners. The female lead is universally adored, with male rivals competing for her. [A Buddhist monk deeply in love vs. a clever, courageous, reed-like princess of a fallen kingdom]

2. The dynasty is fictional and entirely made up. All official titles are invented; please don't scrutinize them. If that bothers you, this may not be for you.

3. The female lead has a character-growth arc.

Blurb written October 1, 2026

Here's a story coming soon

“Dummy, tell me, if someone kills a person, can they still receive the Buddha's forgiveness?”

On a winter morning six years ago, a murder case was discovered in the hills behind Mingjue Temple.

Chen Jie, a student at Wujiang No. 2 Middle School, hanged herself using her school uniform. Old and new bruises covered her body, and the cause of death was mechanical asphyxiation by hanging. Nearly everyone believed she had taken her own life because she could no longer endure the beatings.

But over the past six years, one case after another has erupted in Wujiang City, and every clue has circled like a ghost around one dead person.

She is both the victim and the killer.

Even if she must go to hell, there will be plenty of people in hell willing to sacrifice themselves to send her to heaven.

“Memories may fade with time, but I have always trusted my heart.”

“In the endless darkness, only Maitreya Bodhisattva smiles brightly, his pale blue eyes looking down at me, so small and helpless. Bodhisattva, Bodhisattva, I am the deluded one, I am the guilty one. Save her.”

1. Entirely fictional, with no real-life inspirations. Third-person narration, divided into four volumes: The Unforsakable Salvation of Bodhi, The Silent Storm, The Unforgettable Forgetting, and An Ode to the Six Paths of Rebirth.

2. An ensemble cast, with the cases at the center. The female and male leads, Yang Xue and Li Qun, are police officers, and they have a romance [highlighted]. They are a bickering couple with a happy ending.

(Example of the leads' romance:

“How do you know they paved the track at No. 1 Middle School?”

Li Qun raised the corners of his mouth. “Didn't we exchange contact information at that mixer with the teachers from No. 1 Middle School last time? That Chinese teacher told me.”

“Oh.” Yang Xue hadn't been there yet. She pursed her lips.

“What, are you unhappy?”

“Who's unhappy? What does it have to do with me?” Yang Xue shot back, still not satisfied. “You dog.”

Li Qun was delighted, looking blissful. “Say it again.”

“You dog.”)

Blurb written October 10, 2026.

Theme: Perseverance brings hope