Gathering the Bright Moon

One-sentence summary: The story of a notorious male merchant spoiling a woman. Blurb: Xi Ji is Jiangnan’s most illustrious and notorious merchant. He is sharp-tongued, cold-blooded, and utterly driven by profit. Yet he falls for a woman of low status who has nothing at all. He keeps Gu Mingyue by his side, and plenty of people watch for entertainment, waiting to see when he will tire of her. * Gu Mingyue falls in love with a bad man. She gives him her whole heart, only to get his lies and exploitation in return, along with the mocking words he says in front of everyone: “What makes her worthy of me?” And yet this very man takes an arrow meant for her, using his own flesh and blood to shield her. Watching Xi Ji lying there covered in blood, Gu Mingyue is bewildered. Xi Ji is so protective of his own life and so selfish. He must be bewitched to trade his life for hers. * As the arrow pierces Xi Ji’s chest, he remembers that full-moon night. The moon glowed a clear, pearly white, reflected in the pond. Drunk, Gu Mingyue swayed unsteadily. “Mingyue is the moon in the sky. You must never bring it down into your arms.” Xi Ji scooped his beloved into his arms. “If I want to hold the moon, what can even Buddha do to stop me?” Back then, he was spirited and self-important, thinking she was just another woman he could pick up on a whim. He did not know she was his poison, the moon enthroned high in his heart, the love of his life whom he would scheme and plot to possess at any cost. He was already deeply poisoned, unable to free himself. This story features: Business rivalry, strategy, passion, a class gap, and the heroine’s rise. The male lead is stronger than the female lead early on; later, she becomes strong, and he becomes even stronger. The male lead will atone for his mistakes. The heroine is the main character, not a heroine who merely watches events unfold. Theme: Tea, silkworm farming, brocade, and clay figurines: preserving Jiangnan’s cultural heritage.