A Match Made by Fate

[This work has been revised many times. The official Jinjiang version is the definitive text.] Shen Xiao, the Grand Astrologer, is of noble birth, aloof and proud. As the greatest Five Elements master in the realm, he commands the Imperial Capital's Divine Palace, discerning the secrets of Heaven above and solving mysteries below. The world calls him "a single word worth a thousand gold." In a life where everything goes his way, his only misfortune is that in his youth, his mentor forced upon him a supposedly "heaven-ordained" marriage. Even the Empress Dowager, who dotes on her grandson, could not refuse. Whenever Shen Xiao thinks of that irritating girl and her family, who have all risen to prominence by currying favor, he can't help but sneer to himself. Fortunately, he has since completed his training, and the Jade Balance of the Celestial Compass, which can probe Heaven's secrets, is in his hands. Whether this marriage is "heaven-ordained" is still up to him, isn't it? Shen Xiao made up his mind, wrote an oracle, and called off the engagement. That night, several royal cousins dragged him out to celebrate his regained freedom, drinking and carousing among the courtesans. Irritated by all the noise, Shen Xiao left on his own. Then, in a disorderly alley in the red-light district, he caught sight of the very person whose engagement he had just broken off. His former fiancée, who used to cling to him relentlessly, was standing beneath a tattered lantern outside an inn with the poor scholar she had known since they were both nobodies. The light was dim, and their gazes were tender. The girl smiled brightly, her eyes sparkling, and said to the scholar, "I've been secretly practicing for ages, and I finally learned to use the Jade Balance of the Celestial Palace. The first thing I did was use it to cast an oracle for you. It says you'll pass the exam this time for sure! Then my father won't refuse our marriage anymore." Shen Xiao stood motionless in the shadow at the corner of the alley, silent for a long time. At last, he curled his lips into a cold smile. Whether an oracle in this world is accurate is, in the end, for him alone to decide. =Reader's Notes= The heroine chases the hero after he rejects her, and there is a rivalry between multiple suitors. Both leads are virgins. Happy ending. There are foreshadowed plot points. Reading spoilers in advance may affect your experience. The Jade Balance of the Celestial Compass is an ancient instrument for observing the heavens. The VIP chapters have been revised many times. Please don't comment if you're reading a pirated copy. The "Childhood Friends" volume is a prequel about the childhood encounters and past events of the heroine, the hero, and the second and third male leads. It's strongly recommended that you read it. The "Softly Enduring" volume continues the story and is all sweetness. The prequel is placed after the main story to avoid spoiling the foreshadowing. Choose your reading order as you like. -------Upcoming Novel: Capturing the Phoenix-------------- Yun Sang, a princess of Northern Zhou, was forced in her previous life to marry into the Turks. She became the wife of an aged khan who was close to death. Her beauty brought the greed of wolves, and she died in humiliation in a khan's tent far from her homeland, in the deserts of the north. Reborn, she swore to escape her fate. But just as her escape began, she met again the one person she least wanted to see in this life. He and she had once been the closest of siblings in the world. As children, they witnessed Chang'an's fall together, depended on each other through life and death, and risked their lives to save one another. In her previous life, when she was forced to marry far away, she had believed he would remember their bond and show her mercy. But his heart was so cruel. In her last life, he ignored her humble pleas and personally sent her to the Turks as a bride. In this life, he used her again, even killing both of her fiancés. Again and again, he stopped her from escaping and locked her in a cage. * Ning Ce was once the most dazzling imperial grandson of Northern Zhou. After a setback in his youth, his path to the throne was bound to be treacherous, painstaking, and ruthless. In this game of schemes for control of the realm, the one variable that left him unable to decide his next move was the girl who had clutched his hand beneath the ruins of Chang'an. She and he had once been the closest people in the lonely palace. He had thought he would always be the one she could never leave, the one she longed for and relied on. Only after she got engaged again and again, each time to his sworn enemy, did he realize that she had been lying all along. All his trust and love, even the child they shared, had been nothing more than tools she used to manipulate him. Her heart was so cruel. Again and again, she hurt him until he could bear no more. So later... He once again held the life and death of her third fiancé in his hands. Knowing she was kneeling before him, he never looked up. His vermilion brush moved back and forth across the list of condemned prisoners. After a long while, he finally spoke in a cool voice: "This time, you won't beg me?" =Reader's Notes= * The romance centers on love and conflict. The heroine is stubborn and clever; the hero is calculating and controlling. * The heroine was married in her previous life but never consummated her marriage with the old khan. She is a virgin in this life, and the hero is a virgin in both lives. * The setting is fictional, inspired by the Northern and Southern Dynasties, with frequent wars and a relatively tolerant society. * In the title, "luan" is an ancient variant of "luan," meaning imperial power. Theme: Face hardships without fear and keep moving forward.