The First Cry on Hearing the News

She was a country girl who stumbled into a distinguished family. She repaid the kindness of those who raised her. She became head of the household and guarded the family. She became a big sister and protected her little brother. All she wanted was to live out her life in peace. But she never expected that her life would take a path wholly at odds with her heart's desires. Song Jinyan had always thought she was cold by nature, with few people or things she truly cared about. Practicing martial arts? Just so she could stand on her own two feet. Entering government service? Only to honor her promise to Aunt Lan. Becoming head of the household? Just to make it easier to care for her little brother. The jianghu? Perhaps that was where she belonged. A confidant? Perhaps that was the medicine she needed. A lover? Perhaps that was her tribulation. The world was vast, and perhaps there was nowhere she could call home. Or perhaps she could find a home anywhere. A bed, a roof, a small courtyard. Su Chengyi often wondered: Why did Heaven let him see what paradise looked like, only to make him fall into hell? When he returned from hell, he held a human head in one hand and a sharp sword in the other. He did not know if he had become an envoy of hell or a revenant returned to the human world. Everyone knew that Su Muzhi was a doctor with a benevolent heart. Only he knew that his heart had settled somewhere it never should have, that he had done what he should not have done. There was no escape. He had gone where he should not have gone. There was no taking it back. The story unfolds gradually at first. Many of the hidden truths will only become clear later on. The romance comes later and takes its time to unfold. Theme: Women, too, can care for the world.