Synopsis
[Please check out my completed novel, "I Really Do Adore My Nemesis," and my upcoming novel, "The Villainous Minister Shows Me No Mercy." Please add them to your collection~]
[Twisted rebirths, each other's one true love, set a hundred years before "Nemesis"]
In the seventh year of Changde, the southern frontier suffered a crushing defeat.
An investigation confirmed that the Shen clan of Yanzhou, renowned swordsmiths, had passed off inferior goods as quality weapons. Their faulty sabers broke, throwing the entire army into disarray.
Regent Xiao Heng personally led the Imperial Guard to surround the estate and confiscate the family's property. Shen Ruowan fought back with her sword and was cut down on the spot.
After being reborn, Shen Ruowan returned to one month earlier.
When she ran into Xiao Heng again on Moonlit Bridge, her gaze turned icy and hatred surged in her heart. Before she could do anything, she saw him stride through the crowd and the sea of lights, straight toward her.
Beneath the dazzling lanterns of the Lantern Festival, Xiao Heng's handsome face was touched with a gentle smile. He said:
"Miss, this lantern is for you."
At the Lantern Festival, one seeks out a lantern and gives it to the one they love.
Such has been the custom in Great Jing since ancient times.
Born into a distinguished family, Xiao Heng was a dashing young man, the most sought-after nobleman among the women of Shengjing and the celebrated regent of Great Jing.
But no one knew that the woman Xiao Heng loved was the girl who had defended the capital alongside him when Great Jing fell in his previous life.
Back then, he'd never seen the young woman beneath her mask. All he remembered was a bracelet of glass hibiscus flowers on her wrist, gleaming brilliantly in the sunlight.
Given a second life, Xiao Heng put aside his recklessness and arrogance. He defended the land and its people, doing everything in his power to change Great Jing's fate and prevent its fall. Yet he never found the girl in his heart.
Three years passed, and turmoil arose once more.
Convinced that the Shen clan was the source of the nation's troubles, he led his army to surround their estate. His sword fell, and blood was spilled.
Yet at the very moment Shen Ruowan died before him, Xiao Heng suddenly realized that the glass hibiscus bracelet on her wrist
was identical to the one worn by the girl he'd loved in his previous life.
Reading guide:
1. The leads misunderstand each other at the beginning!
2. There's love for country and family, as well as a groveling arc as he tries to win her back~
3. A serious historical style. The timeline is a hundred years before "I Really Do Adore My Nemesis"~
4. The setting is fictional, though I sometimes take inspiration from history. Please don't nitpick the details~~
------------ Completed Novel Recommendation ------------
[Title: I Really Do Adore My Nemesis]
When Xiao Huai was eighteen, he was busy chasing dogs, fighting crickets, and riding through the streets. Ji Yunsheng had already made a name for himself across the land, hailed by everyone in the capital of Great Yong as a brilliant young man.
When Xiao Huai was nineteen and living off others under the title "Yingdu's Number One Spoiled Brat," Ji Yunsheng had already led an army of thirty thousand to victory in Yanzhou.
They ran into each other on the street. Ji Yunsheng smiled and greeted him by his courtesy name. "Xiao Hailou, long time no see."
At that moment, Xiao Huai looked at the beautiful face that had captivated countless young women in Yingdu. With a false smile, he cupped his hands in greeting, then turned and walked away without a word.
There was only one reason: from the first moment Ji Yunsheng saw him, he had seen through the frivolous facade to the hatred and ambition beneath.
Later, Xiao Huai led his troops back to Xiangcheng, only for Ji Yunsheng to block his way south of the Bian River.
He led his army to attack Tingkou, and Ji Yunsheng held the line at Mount Xiao.
Only when Xiao Huai's sleeves were soaked in blood from his spear and he took control of Jicheng did he finally turn Ji Yunsheng, that obstacle in his path, into his prisoner.
At the governor's residence, Xiao Huai looked at the man surrounded by soldiers and smiled triumphantly. "Ji Yunsheng, Jicheng has fallen. At last, you've lost to me."
But the other man merely smiled, unconcerned, his eyes curving like a spring breeze crossing the fields in the third month. "Xiao Hailou, I've been waiting for you for a long time."
Xiao Huai's heart skipped a beat. He turned and walked away, not daring to look at him again.
As a result, he missed the note on the desk behind him, its ink still wet:
"Mountains and rivers, all I seek; Yunsheng yearns for Hailou."
A serious historical style, one-on-one romance, a fake playboy with a dark heart as the pursuer VS a genuinely scheming white lotus as the pursued~ Please add it to your collection~
------------ Upcoming Novel: The Villainous Minister Shows Me No Mercy ------------
Three years ago, the Western Jie invaded Great Jing, and the four prefectures of western Shao fell.
On the day Yanye City fell, Shen Huai'an snapped the Qingfeng sword they'd pledged their love with and drove half of the broken blade into Han Nianjin's chest.
"Today, the Shen clan will lead the people of Zhongzhou in surrendering to the Western Jie. If you stop resisting, I'll spare your life."
That day, Han Nianjin lay in a pool of blood, helplessly watching the young man she loved don the official robes of the Western Jie and personally scrape away the oath they'd carved together into the city wall, swearing to restore Great Jing.
Three years later, everyone in Yanye City knew that the orphaned daughter of the Han family had become the city's gentlest young lady.
When she toasted Western Jie envoys, she would nervously drop her glass.
When she saw Western Jie officials execute Jing civilians in the street, tears would soak her handkerchief, and she'd nearly faint from fear.
But no one knew that the bright red on her manicured fingertips was never delicate rouge. It was the blood of her enemies, staining their throats.
Later, she set fire to an official inn, and Shen Huai'an broke her arm.
She led her father's former subordinates in an attack on Western Jie officials, and Shen Huai'an brought troops to wipe them out.
Yet in a place no one could see, Shen Huai'an knelt in a mass grave and carved the names of the dead young men into wooden plaques, restoring each of their former Great Jing military ranks.
In the sixth year of Chongan, unrest erupted in western Shao.
Han Nianjin led the people and soldiers of Yanye in a surprise attack on the Western Jie camp, driving her bloodstained blade into Shen Huai'an's chest.
But Shen Huai'an smiled and coughed up blood. He took off the necklace he wore around his neck and gently placed it in her palm. "Your father once taught me that the sharpest blade should be plunged into the place that hurts your enemy most."
At that moment, Han Nianjin lowered her head and looked at the necklace in her hand.
Its pendant was a polished piece of iron, its pattern identical to that of the broken Qingfeng sword from the city wall. Two lines of faded writing were engraved upon it:
"On the day western Shao returns to Jing, may the candlelight guide an old friend home."
[Getting Started]
1. A serious historical style, a seemingly gentle young lady with a hidden dark side, bent on revenge × a double-dealing turncoat minister working undercover. She bravely protects her homeland, while he bears a traitor's name to keep his promise to defend the land~ Set two hundred years before "Nemesis"~
2. This story focuses on a large cast and love for the land, with an epic national storyline and a romance~
3. The setting is fictional, though I sometimes take inspiration from history. Please don't nitpick~ Please add it to your collection~~
Theme: Hold up a collapsing nation and shoulder the lives of its people.
