May You Find Peace

[My new novel, Evergreen, is now underway. If you don't mind, please check it out and show it some support. Thank you so much!]

One was a dissolute playboy in the eyes of the powerful, the other a clueless laughingstock in the gossip of the capital. The two were meant to accept an imperial marriage decree and follow the paths laid out for them.

But a small accident quietly set everyone's fate in motion.

The accident put Chen Yu'an through the wringer. She had no idea whose body she had transmigrated into, and had to struggle to survive in this strange world with no clue what was going on. The days that followed were even more "eventful," with mishaps and shocks coming one after another. First came unrest at the border, then she lost her protection, then a family suddenly appeared, not to mention the marriage announcement that rang in her ears like a thunderclap.

What? I just got here and I'm already supposed to get married? To some good-for-nothing, no less? No way. She had to run!

But it seemed she could never escape her fate.

By a twist of circumstance, she still met him. But why was he so different from the rumors?

Their road was fraught with danger. Chen Yu'an couldn't understand why this young woman had gotten into such deep trouble, and all the clues seemed to point back to the original accident. What could have happened to drag an inexperienced young woman into the power struggles of the court?

*

Liu Xiao, son of the Grand General Who Guards the Nation and the Grand Princess, should have been a spirited young man of Chang'an. But because of his elders' suspicions, he lost both his parents, one after the other. He concealed his talents and edge, becoming the wastrel people said spent his days haunting gambling houses and pleasure quarters.

He was trapped in the cage of his past until one day he met a vivacious, free-spirited young woman.

"Liu Xiao, you don't have to live like this."

When war breaks out, how will he choose between his country's enemies and his family's vengeance?

*

When the truth finally came to light, Chen Yu'an understood that she was merely a pawn, tossed about by the bigger game amid power plays and suspicion.

Faced with a choice, Liu Xiao realized that he had always had only one path. He took up his father's sword, long kept in storage, and rode for the northwest.

The cold glint of steel flashed once more, and the realm was brought to peace again.

Chang'an was like a cage, trapping so many people, but she and he were fortunate enough to escape.

"You ran away from your wedding twice before. See? In the end, you couldn't escape."

My new novel, Evergreen, is being serialized. Please add it to your collection.

Who says a merchant can't care about the realm? Who says a court official can't harbor private ambitions?

[The Romance: A Scheming Man Woos a Wealthy Woman]

Miss Wen, from the riverside in Wuzhou, was as graceful and lovely as a camellia in springtime Jiangnan. The Wen family was wealthy, and she was of marriageable age, so matchmakers should have been beating down her door. But things did not go as expected: she was already in her twenties and still unmarried, much to her father's distress.

Though Miss Wen had a beauty that could outshine the moon and shame the flowers, she had a ruthless, merciless heart. Since taking charge of the Wen family, she had turned its business around single-handedly. She was fierce and ruthless in her dealings, and everyone from the prefect and county magistrate to local thugs had to show her respect. No one dared covet the Wen family's business, let alone make a move on Miss Wen. For this very reason, the people of Wuzhou nicknamed her "Iron Vajra."

In the third year of Taihe, a severe drought struck Jiangnan. Liang Pin, an Investigating Censor, was sent by imperial decree to oversee relief efforts. Before long, news spread of his engagement to Miss Wen. The announcement astonished everyone. Was the "Iron Vajra" of Wuzhou really getting married? Just who was this Lord Liang?

*

"I can provide the silver, but I'm a businesswoman. Lord Liang will have to offer something in exchange."

"Certainly. Tell me what you want, Miss Wen. If it is within my power, I will have no objection."

"Good. My marriage has been giving me a headache lately. How about you join the Wen family as a live-in son-in-law?"

"All right."

"All right?!"

"Yes. If Miss Wen is willing to provide money for disaster relief, I agree to become a live-in son-in-law of the Wen family."

"Lord Liang, do you know what it means to marry into a woman's family?"

"I do."

"It means you'll live in the Wen family home after we marry, I'll make all the decisions, and any children we have will take my surname. Are you really willing?"

"I said I have no objection."

"Liang Pin, you must be out of your mind."

Out of his mind? No. He was simply willing, wholeheartedly.

[The Plot: "The Fields Are Cracked and the Rivers Run Dry, What Is to Be Done?"]

In the third year of Taihe, much of Jiangnan went without rain until autumn. Silkworms died of the heat, and the harvest failed completely. The lands once famed for fine silks and abundant rice and fish had nearly become a living hell.

Wuzhou was suffering from drought, and the people were in desperate straits, yet the court had received no reports about the disaster there. The Censorate therefore sent Investigating Censor Liang Pin to secretly look into the cover-up in Wuzhou. But the imperial envoy nearly lost his life there, uncovering a shocking case in the process.

Officials and merchants, money and power.

Tangled beyond untangling.

Should you go with the flow and carve out a future for yourself? Or stand against the powerful clans alone and seek justice for the people?

Should you turn a blind eye, close your doors, and protect yourself? Or give out grain and money, and stand together through hardship?

*

The rain had stopped, and the night sky was clear and bright.

"Liang Pin, look, a shooting star!"

"Make a wish."

"First, may the rivers never run dry and the mountains stay green. Second, may the weather be favorable and the rice and mulberry crops flourish. Third, may the one I hold dear live in happiness and without worry."

Theme: Love of country and family, upholding justice, resilience and kindness