The Buddha's Hairpin

Can you not see? The moon still hangs before us, but the empty city is sparsely lit.

Can you not know? In one morning, the lotus blooms; for ten years, the family lies in the mud.

From the moment you smiled with downcast eyes

To the instant I shed all my adornments

Once, a sparse shadow crossed the window

Now, we are only a stone's throw from the painted hall

You said one glance could span a thousand autumns. Later, we were worlds apart, our hair graying before its time.

You said ten thousand years of lonely silence. Later, we grew old together, side by side at the ends of the earth.

Growing old together

Surely nothing could be more beautiful...

The good-for-nothing version of the blurb:

One is a delicate young master, now maneuvering carefully at every turn;

One is a fallen nobleman, once immensely talented;

One is a charming healer, always patient and ruthless;

Deep within the sprawling mansion, they compete for favor and fight for love...

Their tangled forbidden love began ten years ago,

but those ten years were enough to change everything.

Now, after ten years, they return to claim what was lost.

Who will end up standing at the very top?

And who will finally get what they wished for, holding their beloved's hand?...

P.S. This is a bit of playful writing, not meant to withstand close scrutiny, and not particularly original. It's about a secret love kept hidden within a scholarly family, with all its rights and wrongs, all its schemes and rivalries. When the absurdity fades from the page, only endless love remains in the heart.

[Thanks to my dear Li Zi for making my author page! =3=]

[My other completed works: recommended, and welcome to collect]

[Currently updating: The Peony Series, Book Two, The Fragrant History of Salo]