The ending of the main story was revised while it was still being serialized. Readers of the official edition all know this.
[Seeking follows for my upcoming book, "Your Majesty, We're Here!"]
Character notes:
The female lead is a true spoiled brat who eats, drinks, and has fun, and cheats and swindles. She is not a kind and virtuous heroine.
The male lead is a battle-hardened general who cares only about victory. He is no champion of justice, either.
Neither character is perfect. Please keep that in mind.
Blurb:
Before eloping, Cui Jiarou went to ask a holy man for a fortune: "Which direction is most auspicious: east, south, west, or north?"
The holy man calculated on his fingers. "The west is best."
Satisfied, she left after handing over her fee.
Riding a donkey all the way to the Western Regions, she got off on the wrong foot with Xue Lang, the Anxi Protector-General, on her very first day in the city.
She praised him for his peerless looks.
He wanted to eat her beloved donkey.
She disguised herself as a man and hid her identity.
He searched the entire city for her, intending to send her back to Chang'an.
Damn it, that monk led me astray!
When they first met, she didn't know how much he despised men who loved men.
Once she found out, whenever she saw him, she'd gaze at him with starry eyes and pretend to be smitten:
"General Xue, you're as graceful as a dragon and a phoenix, like the bright moon in the heavens. This younger brother can't help but fall for you. The night's cold and lonely. Would you let me warm your bed?"
She'd annoy him to death!
Sure enough, Xue Lang would turn grim every time, his long-fingered hand clenching the hilt of his sword as he fought the urge to cut her down. "Get lost."
Cui Jiarou would laugh and walk away, pleased with her success. She'd do it again next time.
Until one day, after he annoyed her again, she pressed close and breathed into his ear, her voice sweet as orchids. "General Xue, the night is deep and the dew is heavy. The bedding must be cold. It's time to rest..."
"All right," he agreed, for the first time. His towering figure cast a shadow over her. "At your place or in my tent? Or should we spend the first half of the night at your place and the second half in my tent?"
Cui Jiarou: "..."
Bonus scene:
After falling for a man, Xue Lang, who had always despised men who loved men, tossed and turned, his clothes growing loose on his frame.
At last, he gritted his teeth and decided to accept his fate.
On a day of gentle wind and drizzle, Xue Lang sat by the window and wrote a letter home.
"Your son is stationed at the frontier, where death may come at any time. I do not wish to hold any other woman back, and will not discuss marriage with anyone in this life.
If Mother longs for the joy of having grandchildren around her knees, perhaps she could adopt two children from a poor branch of the clan..."
When he put down his brush and looked up, he saw a handsome young man beneath a tree outside the window.
The young man had narrow shoulders, a slender waist, and a delicate frame.
After stretching, a bundle of cloth suddenly appeared at his feet, and his chest immediately swelled...
The young man was startled. He hastily snatched up the bundle and disappeared from sight.
When he reappeared, his chest was flat again.
He sneakily glanced around to make sure no one had seen what happened, then strolled over, waving a paper fan with a carefree air.
"What a pleasant pastime, General. Practicing your calligraphy?"
The tenderness in Xue Lang's eyes faded. With a cold laugh, he crumpled the letter.
Then he squeezed harder until even the paper ball was reduced to dust.
P.S.
The female lead is a true spoiled brat who eats, drinks, and has fun, and cheats and swindles. She is not a kind and virtuous heroine.
The male lead is a battle-hardened general who cares only about victory. He is no champion of justice, either.
There are no perfect characters here.
#Disguised as a man, happy ending#
Forms of address, official titles, and so on are loosely based on the Tang dynasty, with some original liberties.
Blurb for upcoming book, "Your Majesty, We're Here!"
Female lead:
Before entering the palace, Qiu Kui thought she'd be assigned to the imperial kitchens.
Who knew that several incidents would break out in the palace on the day she arrived?
Before she knew it, someone had put her in a eunuch's clothes and shoved her in front of the Prince Regent.
The Prince Regent pried open her mouth and stuffed a pill inside, his expression sinister. "Serve His Majesty well, and I'll make that thing of yours grow back. If he does anything unusual, you must send word to me. Understood?"
Qiu Kui's legs trembled like a sieve.
What pill?
What emperor?
What messages?
Hadn't the old eunuch she'd paid promised to get her into the imperial kitchens?
She was brought before the puppet emperor.
The gaunt emperor never looked at her.
He drank his medicine while she stood beneath a tree.
He slept while she stood beneath a tree.
He teased his myna bird while she stood beneath a tree.
She didn't mind the hard work. She just spent all day worrying that something might grow on her body.
Until one day, after dragging her aching legs back to her room, she made herself something to eat over a little red clay stove.
A cold voice suddenly came from behind her.
"What are you making?"
"S-spicy and sour noodles."
And then she watched the emperor stand by the little stove, holding a bowl and slurping up every last noodle, lost in thought.
The lowly eunuch Xiao Qiu, long ignored by everyone, suddenly became the most sought-after food-serving eunuch at the emperor's side.
One time, she accidentally hurt her hand and couldn't make red bean fritters that day.
The emperor frowned. "I order you not to hurt your hand by being careless again."
He immediately summoned the imperial physician to treat her hand.
Of course she could avoid hurting her hand.
But, Your Majesty, you always choose to bathe when this servant is around,
smiling and looking positively radiant.
But this servant really hasn't grown anything at all!
What should I do?
Perhaps I should just run away.
Male lead:
The late emperor died young, leaving the Prince Regent in control and the young emperor too weak to challenge him. The emperor pretended to be sick and frail to avoid attracting his attention.
To the outside world, he was a gaunt invalid confined to his sickbed, and everyone said he would die soon.
Then one day, a handsome young eunuch arrived who could turn even plain coarse rice and flour into a feast.
The emperor couldn't help himself, and soon he had armor-like pecs, an eight-pack, and a V-shaped torso...
He couldn't hide his muscular build under any clothes.
If he couldn't hide it,
then it was time
to seize power.
Bonus scene:
On the day the emperor seized power, the Prince Regent was thrown into the imperial prison.
The palace descended into chaos for a while.
Qiu Kui immediately took off her eunuch's clothes, dressed like a palace maid, and tried to escape under cover of night with a bundle on her back.
Torches flickered everywhere. The usually stern emperor was waiting leisurely beside the dog hole she'd dug in advance.
He lifted her chin, his dark eyes giving nothing away.
"So you really are a woman."
Qiu Kui wept as beautifully as pear blossoms in the rain.
"I was a woman before, but I'm afraid I'll grow something men have, so who knows whether I'll be a man or a woman, a human or a monster..."
A hint of amusement flashed in the emperor's eyes. He said calmly, "It doesn't matter. I can make do with either."
P.S. A sweet, slice-of-life romance. Disguised as a man, happy ending.
Theme: Love always appears in ways you never expect
I guess General Xue learned how to chop Pinduoduo, and it's still a little bit worse every time.
The extra chapter completes all the regrets in the main text.
Oh, I think it's still unfinished. Life after marriage is worth writing about. Xue Lang is such a good male protagonist.
It's very well written, and I kept following it from beginning to end. The author is attentive and the reader is happy.
It was still very fun and funny at the beginning, but it was more fun before the horse fell off. The extras are not that good.
I haven't seen such fresh and natural writing in a long time! The subject matter of this book is very well written! Sprinkle flowers ~
I really finished chasing it in one day, it's so beautiful, thank you so much~ The whole article is light-hearted, but it also contains touches about love and redemption~ Also thank you for bringing happiness to General Shen and his family in the extra episode~ In fact, I also want to watch Rourou and Xue Lang's post-marriage extras~
Melancholy. . Completed. It's been a long time since I last subscribed... I'm so tired of looking for a job now
The early stage is really interesting. It would be great if the extra chapter could write about life after marriage.
I like it! The episode is so complete. Arou can just be a carefree and free girl.