The Secluded Beauty of the Painted Screen

Life has eight sufferings: birth, aging, illness, death, being forced to meet those you resent, being parted from those you love, being unable to obtain what you want, and the blazing intensity of the five aggregates. Zhou Qing experienced all eight sufferings. After she died, her soul watched as her own child was brutally killed and her enemy took her child's place, enjoying wealth and glory. The hatred pierced her heart, but there was nothing she could do. Perhaps her prayers before the Buddha had finally paid off. When she opened her eyes again, Zhou Qing had returned to four years earlier. A mother grows strong for her child. This time, she must not die. Xie Chong looked at the woman seated at the table. She was his son's mother, and a faint fragrance clung to her. Her skin was as white as snow, her hair as dark as night. She was breathtakingly beautiful. The Commander-in-Chief tapped his fingers lightly on the table, his throat suddenly tight. A beautiful, flower-like tavern owner X a sinister, taciturn Commander-in-Chief Upcoming novel: The Empress Is Born with Good Fortune (Reborn) Gu Yun was the true daughter of the Chang Geng Marquis's household, a noble child of heaven who had been left outside the family. Yet she endured endless torment and died miserably on the street, wrapped in a straw mat. After her death, Gu Yun obtained a book of fate and learned that she was supposed to be the chosen one of this world. It was her cousin, Xue Yi, who had stolen the happy and peaceful life that should have been hers. Xue Yi possessed a priceless treasure called the Fate-Commanding Spirit Jade. As long as she drank Gu Yun's blood, the jade could alter the words written in the book of fate. [Gu Yun has a carp-shaped birthmark on her wrist. She happens to meet the wife of the Chang Geng Marquis at the State Temple, and mother and daughter recognize each other.] In the autumn of Jian'an Year Eighteen, the wife of the Chang Geng Marquis went to the State Temple to offer incense. Gu Yun was unfortunately struck by an arrow. Xue Yi drank her blood, and the Fate-Commanding Spirit Jade glowed red. [Xue Yi has a carp-shaped birthmark on her wrist. She happens to meet the wife of the Chang Geng Marquis at the State Temple, and mother and daughter recognize each other.] Gu Yun watched helplessly as a birthmark identical to her own appeared on Xue Yi's flawless wrist. Xue Yi took her place and became the treasured pearl the Chang Geng Marquis's household had lost and found again. [The Third Prince falls in love with Gu Yun at first sight in a tavern and asks to marry her as his princess consort.] In early spring of Jian'an Year Nineteen, the Third Prince went to investigate a tavern outside the city. Gu Yun's leg was cut by an axe. Xue Yi drank her blood, and the Fate-Commanding Spirit Jade glowed red once more. [The Third Prince falls in love with Xue Yi at first sight in a tavern and asks to marry her as his princess consort.] Inside the tavern, the handsome and dashing Third Prince caught sight of Xue Yi, and his eyes lit up. [The emperor dies, the Third Prince ascends the throne, and Gu Yun is made empress.] In the twelfth month of Jian'an Year Twenty-One, the emperor died. Inside the palace, Xue Yi plunged a dagger into Gu Yun's heart, opened her veins, and drank the last drop of her blood. [The emperor dies, the Third Prince ascends the throne, and Xue Yi is made empress.] In the magnificent palace, Xue Yi sat upon the phoenix throne, smiling and chatting as she accepted the officials' obeisance. Gu Yun was so consumed by hatred that she fainted. When she awoke, she heard Xue Yi's gentle voice beside her: "Xiao Yun, let's go to the State Temple to offer incense together." Gu Yun's gaze fell on the spirit jade at Xue Yi's waist. The jade had one weakness: it craved the blood of the chosen one of fortune, and feared her tears most of all. As long as it was touched by her tears of emotion, the book of fate altered by the jade would automatically correct itself. Gu Yun smiled. "Cousin, let's go." She wanted to see just how much the wife of the Chang Geng Marquis would despise this fake who had impersonated her daughter once she discovered the birthmark on Xue Yi's wrist had disappeared. Theme: Theme to be added