The Courtesan and the Holy Monk

Yu Fu, the most celebrated courtesan in Jiangnan, had been famous for her beauty from a young age. When she came of age, she was to be forced into bloom before her time. Unwilling to accept her fate, she tried every way she could to escape, but never succeeded, until one day she fled in a panic and leapt into a carriage adorned with Buddhist bells.

It belonged to the National Preceptor, Ci Yun.

No one in the world could be more holy. Yu Fu fell deeply for him at a single glance.

The compassionate holy monk rescued her from her suffering despite her status, granting her freedom at last.

One stormy night, he was ambushed and left at death's door. To repay his kindness, Yu Fu saved him with her own body.

Knowing that she had committed a great sin by defiling a high monk, she quietly left so that his reputation would not be ruined.

But he searched everywhere and did everything he could to bring her back. Yu Fu thought his heart had finally turned toward the mortal world and that he wanted to be with her forever.

“Will you leave the monastery?” she asked eagerly.

The Buddha's chosen one silently rolled his prayer beads in his hand and closed his eyes. “Perhaps in another life.”

Yu Fu understood.

After that, whenever Yu Fu left, he would find her and bring her back. The cycle went on and on, as if he had made an inescapable hell on earth.

At last, Yu Fu couldn't bear it anymore. She chose a way to leave for good, saving him and freeing herself.

The holy monk Ci Yun was named National Preceptor for his noble character and profound knowledge of Buddhism. He was the foremost Buddhist in the land, a being whom the people regarded almost as an object of faith.

But later, the faith of an entire dynasty crumbled. The holy National Preceptor, revered by all, one day snapped his prayer beads and destroyed his scriptures in front of the whole world. He held a woman and nearly went mad, but she had already closed her eyes and would never wake again...

PS: The female lead isn't really dead. The plot is melodramatic.

[The blurb may be hard to believe, but this might actually be a sweet romance.]

Theme: A story of faith and love in a setting of feudal ethics.