The Sparrow's Song

The emperor dies, and the crown prince, who lost his mother as a child, inherits the throne.

The new emperor is still very young and has no real power, leaving him at the mercy of others.

To secure her maternal clan's position, the Empress Dowager orders the new emperor to marry a woman from her family.

Unable to bear the pressure, the new emperor asks to go to the imperial mausoleum and observe mourning beside the sacred mountain.

On his first night living in the mountains, Xiao Yuanche finds a young sparrow in the forest and carefully tends to it.

That night, he dreams that a sparrow slips into his tent, turns into a beautiful young woman, and smiles at him.

The young emperor wakes with his heart pounding.

The bird's nest has fallen to the ground, and the sparrow is nowhere to be seen.

But there really is a young woman in his tent, with raven hair and red lips, her beauty dazzling despite her coarse linen clothes. Her soft body is draped over him, and she holds a sharp blade to his throat.

When she sees that he is awake, their eyes meet, hers clear and bright. The girl pauses, staring at his face, then abruptly lowers her dagger and smiles sweetly at him.

"Big brother, someone paid a fortune to have me kill you.

"But you're so handsome, I've changed my mind."

*

Ever since living in the mountains, His Majesty has been distracted. The palace maids and eunuchs suspect some mountain spirit has bewitched him. They try to reason with him, and even bring in people to perform exorcisms.

So, beneath the deep night sky, when the one who has unsettled his heart comes drifting over with the moonlight, he stirs and looks up at the sparrow-like girl.

"Niaoniao, everyone says there's a demon in these mountains.

"Are you a demon? What kind? A sparrow?"

The girl sits on a tree branch, leaning down to look at the innocent boy.

Clear eyes. A lovely face.

She suddenly curls her red lips into a smile, drops her knife, and jumps down in front of him. She lifts her charming face and meets his gaze.

"No.

"All I know is that I'm the Niaoniao in Your Majesty's heart."

The young emperor's ears turn red at once.

[Cool and composed young emperor x carefree young assassin]

*I'll revise the blurb later. The characters won't change. I'm posting it now so everyone can see the gorgeous cover.

*The characters are set. I mainly want to write a romance sparked by differences in perspective and status.

*I'm really fond of this pairing. It should be sweet, basically a little self-indulgent romance.

Theme: People have all sorts of troubles. Better to take life easy and enjoy each day.