You Are My Dearest

Announcement: This novel is complete~ Please add my new novel "I Love You Like My Life" to your reading list!

*Blurb for "You Are My Dearest":

Dongfang Yunxian, the most beautiful woman in Jiangnan, has been adored by everyone since birth. Women across the city copied the way she shaped her brows, and even a casual glance of hers went down in history. Suitors trampled the threshold of her home. Alas, beauty was short-lived: the most beautiful woman was kidnapped by a band of fierce mountain bandits!

Her parents wept until their eyes were red. Their daughter was so delicate, and now she had walked straight into the tiger's den! Her brother slammed a hand on the table and shouted, "What bandits have the gall to lay a hand on my sister?!"

But who could have known that, in the bandits' stronghold, the most beautiful woman would roll up her sleeves and tie back her hair? She could not only work in the fields, but also lift a huge saber as long as a person. She got along wonderfully with the bandits. Everyone welcomed her, even the legendary stronghold chief, said to be cold-hearted and ill-tempered, treated her differently.

He was always watching her every move with a cold gaze that made her legs go weak, as if he could see right through her.

That evening, summoned to the chief's room, she put on a calm front and carried in a basin of water. She stepped over the threshold, looked up, and saw him using his inner energy to heal his wounds, with nothing left on his upper body.

She set the basin down with a clunk and bolted for the door, but he caught her from behind and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Don't go."

The cold-hearted chief held her slender waist tightly in both arms, as if he wanted to press her into his very bones. She felt his breath against her back, and his heavy heartbeat.

"I've waited so many years. I missed you so much."

Back then, with war raging everywhere, he stood in armor atop a tall horse and saw a slender figure on the city gate tower.

She was the woman he had protected with his life in both of his lifetimes.

*

Reader's Guide: 1. Please read the setting notes before you start! The North and South are enemies, and the characters' decisions are shaped by the era and its prevailing beliefs. This is absolutely not a simple matter of loving each other and getting together, or the leads could have found happiness in their previous life. Told from the heroine's perspective. Both leads are reborn. The hero is a lovesick, obsessive type. The heroine has no memories of her previous life when she is reborn and grows over the course of the story.

2. Regrets from the past life, sweet pampering in this one. One-on-one, both leads are each other's first and only. The focus is on sweetness and romance. Political intrigue provides the backdrop for the love story. No face-slapping, no power-ups, no evil female rival. The leads break free of their shackles and save each other. This is not a wish-fulfillment story. The heroine grows over time, so please don't ask why she's so sentimental or why she doesn't make up her mind. The time isn't right yet.

*

Please add my upcoming novel "She Reincarnated a Thousand Times" to your reading list! It's the story of the male lead's master from this novel. Blurb:

She was a peerless God of War whose name would go down in history, and a notorious temptress blamed by the masses. She was a refined, talented scholar, as well as a thief who roamed the martial world.

She reincarnated a thousand times.

Why practice martial arts? Her inner power had been at its peak for thousands of years.

Why get involved in palace schemes? She could steal an emperor's heart without lifting a finger.

Xuan Yuan Wuyi wore a brand-new secret identity, possessed private wealth enough to rival a nation, and was surrounded by countless handsome men. She plucked flowers with slender fingers, smiled sweetly, and rode freely across the world, living without a care.

But could her eyes be deceiving her? Otherwise, how could she be seeing her nemesis from thousands of years ago?

He wore a blue robe and stood tall. His handsome face had not changed, and he was still just as irritating as she remembered.

"Wuyi."

His eyes burned as he walked steadily toward her.

"Have you been happy without me by your side?"

*

Three thousand years ago, amid the collapse of heaven and earth, he saved a girl from the mortal world.

She was the weapon he had forged with his own hands, and also the tenderest compassion in his heart.

Watching her carefree, willful figure, he smiled in acceptance and walked toward her.

Very well. He might as well accompany her on a journey to the underworld.

(One-on-one, equally matched leads, sworn enemies. The heroine is bold and powerful, the hero reserved and cunning. Both are virgins. In chronological order, this takes place after "You Are My Dearest" and "I Love You Like My Life", in the same world.)

Theme: Be a little rebellious. Dare to resist and pursue your true self.