The Fake White Moonlight Quits

*Previously titled The Theory of White Paper Degradation* On the day Cui Cuo became an immortal, the immortals of the upper realm were in an uproar. She was the first person in the Three Realms to cultivate the Ruthless Path, kill her husband to prove her Dao, and ascend. As for Cui Cuo herself, she had lost her memories completely and felt not a trace of guilt. On the day Cui Cuo descended to the mortal realm, the immortals of the upper realm were once again in an uproar. This little immortal, who looked like a sweet-faced schemer, was going to help the only Divine Lord in the Three Realms survive his romantic tribulation?! Cui Cuo: “I'm supposed to take the Divine Lord's beloved's place and torment him? This is a tough job for me too, you know?” On the day Xie Yan returned from his tribulation, he deliberately opened the Divine Domain wide. The immortals of the upper realm all came to offer their congratulations, but his fake beloved was nowhere to be seen. Later, when he finally found her, she didn't recognize him at all. Cui Cuo: “Actually, your features remind me a little of someone I used to know.” Xie Yan: “What is he to you?” Cui Cuo: “...An enemy?” Xie Yan: Where's my knife?! #What do you do when your wife has a record for cultivating the Ruthless Path?# #Rumor: A dark-hearted man with a soft heart who cares for the Three Realms VS a sweet-faced schemer with no feelings The truth: Aren't we all just three-layer Oreos?# He was the only one left alive after that great battle. In his memories, the phoenix clan's Nirvana flames had blazed across the horizon and reached the heavens, only for them all to fall in the end. The Heavenly Dao was merciless. The divine clan was brought to ruin. Xie Yan darkly wondered whether anyone had ever considered what kind of bird the last phoenix would turn out to be, after witnessing his kin wither away. Until he met Cui Cuo. Though he was trapped in the mire, all he wanted was to give her boundless light. What Xie Yan didn't know was that she had walked out of every shadow only to make her destined way to his side and embrace him. Reading guide: 1. This story is bittersweet, with angst. Not for readers who only like sweet romance. 2. Original worldbuilding warning. This is all made up. 3. Find me on Weibo: Jinjiang Xueman Tou. ***Don't miss the new story on my author page!*** The Eastern Palace's Manual of Mutual Pretending *Xianchi died on the night of her wedding to the heir of the Duke of Zhenguo. As her life came to an end, she looked back and realized it had all been like a dream. Three years earlier, the Chi family had brought her back to the capital, then sent her to the Eastern Palace under an assumed name. She lay low by the Crown Prince's side, waiting for a chance to drag Ning Xun from his throne. Under the Chi family's watchful eye, she acted alongside Ning Xun for three years, convinced she had never given herself away and had played the part of a deeply devoted woman to perfection. Except that, in the rare moments when she caught a glimpse of him, the sharpness in Ning Xun's eyes, not yet concealed, would startle her. It was as if he had long known she was merely a hidden piece on someone else's chessboard, and was simply playing along with her. After a great fire swept through the Eastern Palace, she completed her mission and left. She turned around and married into the Duke of Zhenguo's household, only to die on her wedding night. *Xianchi jolted awake in the carriage on the way back to the capital. In her previous life, she had seemed to live in a fog, dragged forward by one person after another. Reborn, she wanted to see every road beneath her feet clearly. If so, she might as well stay in the Eastern Palace a little longer. All she had to do was act in front of Ning Xun. Once you've done it, doing it again is easy. *In her previous life, Xianchi had been kept in the dark and knew nothing of many things. For instance, she didn't know that not long after her death, the new emperor had seized the throne with an iron fist. He was none other than the man from the Eastern Palace, who had supposedly died in the fire three months earlier. On the seventh night after her death, a snowy night, the new emperor stood alone by her grave, holding an umbrella over it all night. She had once muttered on a snowy day in the Eastern Palace, while waiting for him to return, that she didn't like getting snow all over her because it made her cold. After that, he never made her wait again. But he would never be able to wait for her again. *Little scene: Not long after Xianchi entered the Eastern Palace in her previous life, she made plum blossom pastries herself and took them to the study. Ning Xun smiled as he accepted the food box and even showed her how to draw a winter-solstice countdown picture by guiding her hand. After returning to her room, Xianchi told her maid, “Bring me a damp cloth. I touched something filthy just now.” In the study, Ning Xun didn't even look inside the food box before handing it to his confidant. “It's hers. How could I possibly eat it? Take it out and feed it to the dogs.” When the plum blossom pastries were tossed out to the dogs, Xianchi's maid happened to see. She went back and told Xianchi, who only said lightly, “Oh, I was going to feed them to the dogs anyway.” In this life, Xianchi wasted quite a bit of time before remembering that she still hadn't brought Ning Xun any food. If the Chi family's watchers saw her neglecting her duties, it might make her look a little too uncooperative. But she had only spent half an hour in the kitchen, and her hands were so out of practice she hadn't managed to make a single presentable plum blossom pastry. Then Ning Xun walked in, picked one at random from the pile of charred pastries, took a bite, and praised it without changing his expression. “Delicious.” Then he took her hand and led her out. “You've been kneading dough for so long. Be careful not to hurt your hands.” Theme: Keep your eyes open, stay away from rumors, and neither believe nor spread them.