Embracing the Short-Lived

(Please be sure to read the reading guide below before starting, so you can avoid content you might not like.) When Xue Yaoyao was six, her father brought home a concubine from Jiangnan. The woman had a bastard child whose father was unknown. From then on, Xue Yaoyao had a younger brother with no blood relation to her, named Jiang Lanzhou. Her parents' relationship fell apart, and Xue Yaoyao came to hate Jiang and his mother. Whenever she had the chance, she ordered the servants to humiliate them in every way, tormenting the mother and son until they were half-dead before driving them out of the Xue household. But she never expected Jiang Lanzhou to later transform into a member of the Great Zhou imperial family. At twenty-one, the Xue family fell from power, and Xue Yaoyao, once the darling of the heavens, went from prospective Crown Princess to prisoner. The day she was exiled coincided with Jiang Lanzhou's triumphant return from a glorious military campaign. In the pouring rain, the man lifted her chin with his halberd. "Beg me, and I might consider buying you as a concubine, Sister." Xue Yaoyao laughed. Covered in mud, she was as haughty as she had been in childhood. "As if you're worthy." Later, at a victory banquet on the northern frontier, the desperate young woman fell to her knees before him. "Please, save the old and young members of the Xue family." * "You look down on a bastard, a little wretch, so why are you panting, Sister?" In the darkness, he left marks all over her body. "Do you like it?" he asked. "I like it." To secure protection for her family, Xue Yaoyao cast aside her hatred and self-respect, devoting herself to conquering Jiang Lanzhou. Even when he went mad in bed again and again to avenge the humiliations of his childhood, she would still feign humility afterward. "Will you try loving me?" Jiang Lanzhou closed his eyes and suppressed all his passion, his voice cool and detached. "Be good. This is only a transaction. Don't fall for me." * As he had said, Xue Yaoyao thought their interactions that year amounted to nothing more than her seeking power and him seeking beauty. They each got what they wanted, and Jiang Lanzhou could never love her. To him, she was merely a caged bird he used to balance out the pain and humiliation. If she cried beneath him, he could reclaim all the self-respect he'd lost as a child. Until the end of winter, when snow fell thickly over the royal city of Yangdu. Her Crown Prince fiance showed up at the northern frontier without warning and kissed her right in front of Jiang Lanzhou. [The obsessive madman who rises to power x the sweet, down-on-her-luck temptress] #He says it's revenge, but his heart betrays him and falls in love with her# #Battling through every hardship, bound to each other in body and soul# [Reading Guide] 1. The heroine's name, Xue Yaoyao, comes from the poem "Peach Trees Flourish, Their Blossoms Bright and Beautiful." The name suggests flourishing, beautiful plants. Do not interpret it maliciously. 2. Midway through the story, there is a plot point (taking up an entire chapter) that is exactly the same as one in the author's previous novel. If that bothers you, proceed with caution. The writing is not in an archaic style; the whole novel uses plain, modern language. Expect melodramatic, sweet-and-angsty romance with a bittersweet flavor (emphasis on bittersweet). The heroine's perspective is oppressive early on, so readers who only want pure sweetness should proceed with caution. 3. The childhood grievances between the leads are about evenly divided, and both have character flaws. Proceed with caution if that bothers you. Theme: Love and the self