Bright Skies, Far Journey

Ruan Zhaozhao is the only female Daoist priest at her temple. By imperial decree, she's sent to the imperial harem to ward off evil and pray for blessings.

She hears there's endless gossip in the harem, so Ruan Zhaozhao happily packs her bags. Before she leaves, her master casts a divination and tells her there's a man in the palace with the character for "dog" in his name. He's fated to be alone, and will one day rebel and slaughter without mercy. He's ruthless and vindictive, so she must stay away from him.

Ruan Zhaozhao takes the warning to heart: stay away from petty men like dogs.

At the palace, she visits the empress's hall and finds a little doll stuck with needles. The next day, she tours the imperial garden and rescues a little princess who fell into the water. She performs rituals, enjoys the gossip, and couldn't be happier.

One snowy night, as she passes the Cold Palace, Ruan Zhaozhao sees a eunuch crawling through the snow with his long hair loose, leaving a terrifying trail of blood behind him. She panics and knocks him unconscious with a punch.

A bright red nosebleed blooms against his pale jade skin. Beneath that long hair is a face so beautiful it's almost bewitching.

Swayed by his beauty, Ruan Zhaozhao brings him back to nurse him. She shares the palace gossip with the beauty, and somehow it all tastes even sweeter.

But later, she ends up becoming the subject of the gossip herself. Somehow, she wakes up in a soft bed with Jing Xiaoxing staring at her like he wants to devour her, his rosy lips bitten open by her own teeth.

Zhaozhao clutches the quilt around herself and whispers, "I was trying to drive out a ghost, I swear. Do you believe me?"

Later, Zhaozhao goes to the throne room to take her leave, only to hear the emperor say with a knowing smile to the chief eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial: "Gou Yachi, the master of this little Daoist priestess has calculated that her destined match is the Director of the Bureau of Astronomy. Shall I arrange their marriage?"

Zhaozhao looks up and sees Jing Xiaoxing beside the emperor, dressed in red as vivid as blood. His face is powdered white, and his pale eyes are as sharp as ice blades. Zhaozhao can't help shivering.

Oh no. She seems to have offended the pettiest man in the world.

Jing Xiaoxing has never believed in ghosts or gods. He believes only in the malice of human hearts.

After one wrong move in a game of court intrigue, he is beaten forty times with a rod and nearly dies. Stripped of his official robes as a eunuch of the Directorate of Ceremonial, he's demoted to serving an unfavored consort in the Cold Palace. Everyone takes a turn trampling on him, except for one little Daoist priestess, who shines like sunlight streaming carelessly into the desolate palace.

Later, he rises again and becomes the chief eunuch. No one dares to slight or defy him anymore. But then he sees a letter from the little Daoist priestess's master: I have calculated that your destined match is the Director of the Bureau of Astronomy.

That night, Jing Xiaoxing sits alone for a long time, then tears the letter to shreds, little by little.

So what if it's fate? He'll defy heaven and change his destiny!

Little Scene:

Master: What's the motto of our temple?

Ruan Zhaozhao, loudly: Follow the Dao of Nature. If they won't listen, hit them!

Later, her master laments, exasperated: I didn't mean you should take him to bed!

Content warning:

The male lead is a real eunuch!!! A genuinely dark, beautiful, and unhinged man.

An alternate-history setting, with kindergarten-level political intrigue.

Cover by Lushan, from Yiyeshu.

Theme: Find light in the darkness. With such a heart, the world is bright as day.