After the rain, the water reflects the rosy clouds. The tide recedes, leaving sand along the shore. Leaves rustle in the cold, their sounds drifting through the window screen. How hateful that the west wind blows the world into change, and blows me, too, to the edge of the earth.
Lonely, the ancient splendor. The sun sets again over the Black-Clothed Lane. Speak of rise and fall: whose house do the swallows enter? Only countless geese flying south, together with the bright moon, spend the night among the reeds.
Deng Shandao, Tune: Tang Duo Ling
Twenty years ago, Jun Xuan met Xu Lou outside the "Bao Ren Pavilion."
She was a princess of the Southern Cang imperial court, treasured like gold and jade, while he was no more than a slave waiting to be sold to the highest bidder.
Jun Xuan: I bought you. How about you do my sign-in, warm my feet, and spy on people for me? It's all easy work...
But in the end, Jun Xuan never managed to buy Xu Lou.
Twenty years later, Xu Lou comes strolling through the endless miasma.
Jun Xuan is now a female prisoner who has seen the light of day again, while he has become a city lord who rules his own domain.
Xu Lou: I saved you, so you ought to repay me... No need to do my sign-in, but warming my feet sounds nice. What exactly does spying entail?
Jun Xuan: All right, I suppose sooner or later you have to pay for what you've done...
Xu Lou: Good, glad you understand. Now come over and warm my feet...
Jun Xuan: Xuan is a beautiful stone, inferior to jade. See? I'm not truly treasured like gold and jade. I'm just a stubborn stone. The Empress gave me this name. My birth mother wasn't even qualified to name me.
Xu Lou: Then we're both in the same boat... "Xu" was the surname of the woman who gave me a bun back then. "Lou" was the first tall building I saw when I arrived in the capital. I don't know who my parents are, so I chose my own name. See? My lot is even worse than yours...
New reader's guide: 1. I posted a few chapters under my old pen name before deleting my account, and now I'm revising and reposting them. This story is dear to my heart~ I wonder if any of you lovely readers saw it before. It was pretty niche, after all~
2. Political intrigue and wuxia, with the focus mainly on plot and the occasional romance~
3. The leads are both chaste, and it's a one-on-one pairing.
4. Updates are relaxed and whenever inspiration strikes. I'm practicing my writing and pacing~ My main updates are over here: The Crown Prince's Feeding Manual (There, another plug~)
