The Bodhi Mantra

[Gentle stepmother x antisocial stepson, a Mary Sue, melodramatic mishmash, and a father-son, ruler-subject love triangle] Blurb Rong Fengsheng, the eldest princess of the Daxing Dynasty, gained a stepson the year she married into the marquis's household. Her stepson was young and handsome, but had a rather peculiar personality. It took her six whole years to teach him to be gentle, kind, and courteous. Everyone who saw him praised him as a gentleman as refined as jade. At twenty-three, she became a princess of a fallen dynasty, while her stepson rose to become the revered Crown Prince. That night, snow fell heavily. The young man stood with his hands behind his back, watching as the gate of the Cold Palace slowly closed before him. That winter, the emperor died and the Crown Prince ascended the throne. Grateful for Rong Fengsheng's years of care, he granted her a favor. Rong Fengsheng bit her lower lip and thought for a moment before saying she wanted to leave the palace and marry. The new emperor gazed at her for a long while with his dark eyes, then slowly smiled and gladly agreed. On her wedding night, the red candles had burned halfway down. Someone came through the wind and snow, stepping beneath the moonlight, then kicked open the door and smiled at Rong Fengsheng, who sat beside the wedding bed, while holding up a bloody object: the groom's head! *She is the true faith that sustains me through hardship, the kasaya I wear on my travels. She is the worst sinner in the world, and the cause and consequence of my entire life. Xie Yujing Theme: Keep a kind heart and always be grateful