Jiang Wanyue was born into a prestigious family, blessed with exquisite beauty. Her life should have been peaceful and smooth, until the winter of the year she came of age, when she met Xie Shuangting as he was being bullied by a rich wastrel.
At the time, he was covered in blood, his leg bones brutally broken by someone seeking revenge, and he was on the verge of freezing to death in the snowy night. Jiang Wanyue rescued him, hid him in a private home, brought him winter clothes and a doctor, and cared for him until his leg had healed.
When she learned that Xie Shuangting was going to the capital, Jiang Wanyue smiled and wished him well. "May you succeed in the imperial examinations and earn the highest honors."
After that, she left with her family and forgot all about the incident.
When they met again, the young man from the shabby alley had become the Ninth Prince, a royal son who had grown up away from the palace. Wearing a black jade crown and a purple-and-gold robe, he stood tall before her.
Xie Shuangting's way of repaying her was to offer her the position of his principal consort.
Jiang Wanyue shook her head. "My father arranged my engagement several months ago."
As she turned away, she failed to see Xie Shuangting's expression, dark and deranged.
*
An imperial decree arrived, and the woman who was to marry the new laureate became the Ninth Prince's principal consort instead.
On their wedding night, Xie Shuangting bowed his head and kissed the tear stains from her wedding dress.
His cool fingers gently caressed her face. His voice was tender, his eyes dark.
"Jiaojiao, you shouldn't have saved me back then."
He shouldn't have been allowed to glimpse the bright moon from that dark ditch, only to yearn for it ever since.
*
Xie Shuangting thought that as long as he held on tight, the bright moon would shine only on him for the rest of her life.
Until, one night beneath the brilliance of the full moon, Jiang Wanyue, dressed in the plain white dress she had worn when they first met, leaped from a pleasure boat before his eyes and plunged into the rushing river.
He searched the cold river all night, but found only a torn piece of her clothing.
Only then did he learn what it meant to be pierced to the bone with anguish.
"The day you looked upon me with kindness, all heaven and earth were white, like moonlight on frost-covered branches."
[A story of unrequited longing and possessive love]
Reader's guide:
1. Possessive love. The male lead is disturbed and obsessive, with an intense need for control. His only redeeming quality is that he has kept himself pure in body and heart. Read with caution if this bothers you.
2. Both leads are each other's first love. Happy ending. Entirely fictional setting, so no historical nitpicking, please.
3. The author enjoys all kinds of genres. The characters' values in the story don't reflect the author's own. If the subject matter isn't for you, feel free to click away. Please don't message me when you drop the novel. I hope you all find a story you love~
Cover art by Santailing - Rain on the Eaves. Used with permission.
Theme: A single good thought can overcome a hundred evils.
