Dai · Zhou Sheng

In the West, there is a stone called dai, which can be used in place of ink for painting eyebrows.

Jade for bone, snow for skin, features like a painting: Dai: Zhou Sheng

Zhou Xiaoshi was a handsome man of the Jin dynasty. Zhang Han of the Jin dynasty wrote of him, "Graceful Zhou Sheng, a lovely young boy." Born in 269, in the middle of the Western Jin dynasty, he was about twenty years older than Pan An. The Records of Romantic Tales states that there were two beauties in the Wei and Jin dynasties: Pan An and Zhou Xiaoshi.

Zhou Xiaoshi can be called the highest embodiment of aesthetic beauty. Untouched by the grime of the mundane world, he was pure and beautiful, naturally so, a flawless piece of jade in the treasury of handsome young men our country has treasured for thousands of years. How could a single word, beautiful, possibly do justice to describing him?

[Main Characters]

Zhou Sheng: Pure and unsullied, he regards money as nothing. Delicate as if carved from jade, his features are like a painting, his bearing like an orchid, and his talent rivals that of an immortal.

Yan Lang: Naughty and overbearing, he wages war relentlessly. His handsome brows stand proud, and no one in the world can match him. As a child, he is somewhat naive and mischievous; as an adult, his domineering aura is impossible to hide.

Shi Chong: A playboy who spends money like water, and is lecherous, with a harem of concubines. But after marrying Green Pearl, he dotes exclusively on her.

Green Pearl: A beauty of the Jin kingdom. In fact, the phrase "so beautiful the moon hides and flowers feel ashamed" originated with the beauty Green Pearl. She has both a delicate, feminine side and a side that can hold her own against any man.

Qiu Luan: An actor and a famous star of Luoyang, the most handsome man under heaven. He loves beauty and has a stubborn nature, gentle as water on the outside but strong within.

Zhen Shi: The daughter of the Jiangning Textile Bureau. She is gentle and mild, yet disinclined to speak, believing that trouble comes from careless words. She is a frail beauty, like a lamp that cannot withstand the wind.

Maid: Yan Lang's only maid. She is eccentric but utterly loyal, deft and resourceful, yet prone to acting petulant.

And other characters...

Not overly romantic, not lurid, not outrageous, and not a harem story (the whole novel contains only one male-male couple, Yan Lang and Zhou Sheng, with no love triangle).

[Story Summary]

The Zhou family was renowned for firing the peerless Peony Phoenix-Tail Vase. One day, a crabapple tree in the family garden bloomed out of season, and soon afterward the young mistress of the Zhou family became pregnant with Zhou Sheng. His mother died in childbirth when he was born. During the Lantern Festival celebration on Zhou Sheng's first birthday, he was abducted by a human trafficker. The Zhou family, meanwhile, was brought to ruin over the unparalleled jade cup called A Cup of Snow.

Several years later, Zhou Sheng came to General Yan's household because of a poem, becoming a young attendant, or page.

At that time, the political situation in the Jin kingdom was changing dramatically. The White Prince and the Peony Prince were at odds as they fought for the position of crown prince, while two factions, the Sun and the Moon, also emerged at court. For a time, the realm was caught in the famous situation of "the sun and moon hanging side by side, shining upon the world."

Later, the Peony Prince suffered a political defeat, and the entire Moon faction collapsed along with him. Although Zhou Xiaoshi was not one of the Moon faction's leaders, he was implicated because he was a page in the Yan household and became a scapegoat. The fates of Yan Lang, Shi Chong, Green Pearl, and the others would also come to follow the words, "When spring's three months have passed, all the fragrant blossoms are gone; each must seek a path of their own."

And yet the line, "To see white snow is to see Zhou Xiaoshi," still echoed in their ears!

Though the novel may seem to be connected to politics, it does not actually write about politics. Instead, the love between Zhou Sheng and Yan Lang remains its main thread.

[The story opens with a mystery, proceeds at an unhurried pace throughout, and ends in great tragedy.]

The story is understated throughout because Zhou Xiaoshi is pure and upright all his life. The novel will not depict him wielding power, fighting wars, or engaging in schemes.

But the old term "xiaoshi" can also mean a young attendant or page.

The Book of Han says, "Yong served as a young attendant in Chang'an when he was young, and later became well versed in the classics."

Zhang Han of the Jin dynasty wrote the poem Zhou Xiaoshi.

In the Song dynasty, there was the phrase, "Li Boshi's young attendant. When Boshi painted, he always had him attend at his side."

Therefore, Zhou Sheng, or Xiaoshi, is simply a talented young attendant, well versed in the classics, able to write poetry and paint, somewhat skilled in music, chess, opera, and literature, and as handsome as an immortal.

The novel will basically never contain the words "I love you," nor will it depict "lewd and indecent acts in wind and snow." This is a niche story.

The full outline and the characters' endings have all been decided. There are 99 chapters.

If you enjoy it, please add it to your favorites and leave lots of comments. O(∩_∩)O Thank you, everyone.