Beyond the Empty Mountains

[Spring Ripples on the Steps] New novel now complete: The Queen of Ancient News

*Highlights: Old-school melodramatic angst, not a sweet romance

*Alluring deposed emperor vs. rebel general

For several years, Jiang Qiao disguised herself as a man and ruled as a tyrant.

When the rebels stormed the imperial city, she hurriedly packed her things, set a fire, and faked her death. By a twist of fate, however, she was mistaken for a musician and presented to the rebel leader, Huo Xizhou.

Jiang Qiao kept her secret identity under wraps and planned another escape. Who could have guessed that the rumored sinister, ruthless General Huo, who kept his distance from women, would make an exception for her?

Beneath the warm glow of red candles, the man brushed a finger over the tear mole at the corner of her eye, slightly tipsy. "Stay tonight."

*

Jiang Qiao knew Huo Xizhou treated her differently only because her eyes resembled those of someone from his past.

It didn't matter. He took her for a substitute, and she used him to escape with her life.

They each had their own aims, so it was a fair enough deal.

Only when Huo Xizhou began looking at her with ever-deepening affection and solemnly promised to marry her did Jiang Qiao realize she might have been weaving a web to ensnare herself

Male lead's blurb:

Huo Xizhou's younger sister and the woman he cherished had both died at the hands of the tyrant.

When he learned the tyrant had faked his death, he immediately decided to search the northern lands and personally kill his enemy.

What troubled him was that the delicate, frail favorite maid in his household could not bear the thought of being apart for several months and insisted on accompanying him. Moved by her devotion, Huo Xizhou finally agreed.

Several days later, the tyrant fell into a trap, and Huo Xizhou saw "his" true face for the first time.

The woman who had been discussing their wedding date with him not long ago was now surrounded on all sides, blood spattered across her cheek as she plunged a dagger into the heart of the person who had exposed her...

In that instant, Huo Xizhou's eyes seemed to be stained red by that splash of blood.

So all her gentleness and affection had been an act.

She had done nothing but use him.

In the cell, Jiang Qiao's face was deathly pale. Huo Xizhou reached out and stroked her cheek, his gaze icy. "How many people have you used those tricks you employed to seduce me on?"

[Ruthless, bloodthirsty rebel general vs. scheming deposed emperor with a powerful will to survive]

He was the one who rebelled, and he was also the one who helped her reclaim the throne.

He was the one who denounced her in a proclamation, and he was also the one who cleared her name.

The one he loved deeply was her, and so was the so-called woman he had cherished from afar.

One-on-one romance, both leads' first time, happy ending

== Advance Preview: "Stealing the Moon" (Both Leads Reborn) ==

Ruan Qingdai, the eldest young lady of the Duke of Wei's mansion, was elegant and serene, a stickler for propriety. From childhood, she had been the model of a noblewoman and the natural choice for crown princess.

Yet at the spring banquet in the Apricot Garden hosted by the crown prince, she was caught meeting in secret with a poor scholar.

Concerned for the Duke of Wei's reputation, the crown prince ordered the scholar to be punished for theft. To everyone's surprise, Ruan Qingdai shielded him, knelt to confess her guilt, and spoke in a cool, unruffled voice.

"I am the one who loves him. I gave him my handkerchief to express my feelings. What does he have to do with it?"

The whole gathering erupted in an uproar.

Even the scholar looked at her with an inscrutable, profound gaze.

Female lead's blurb:

Ever since her coming-of-age ceremony, Ruan Qingdai had dreamed every night that she was humiliated and died horribly in the Eastern Palace.

While fretting over how to avoid the marriage, someone set her up, giving her a supposed "affair" with Yan Wenzhao, a man she had never even met.

At first, Yan Wenzhao was merely a pawn she used to avoid entering the palace. But later, Ruan Qingdai felt that someone as proud and aloof as him should not be dragged down by her. In the end, she cut off contact with him and married into the Eastern Palace.

Several days later, an old case of a civet cat replacing the crown prince was exposed.

Overnight, Ruan Qingdai's husband became the false crown prince who had usurped the imperial bloodline, while the poor scholar from before appeared in a prince's python robe, seated high upon the palace steps.

Only then did Ruan Qingdai remember everything from her previous life

The crown prince who had humiliated and killed her in her dreams had always been Yan Wenzhao!

Male lead's blurb:

In his previous life, Yan Wenzhao had possessed an unyielding spirit and a desire to help the world, but he was crushed at every turn and sunk into the mire. After reclaiming his identity, he dealt with everyone who had bullied him, using ruthless and vicious methods.

Reborn in a single night, he was once again a penniless scholar without power or influence, about to have his right hand broken and be branded as punishment.

But this time, Ruan Qingdai, who had refused to bow to him even in death in her previous life, stood in front of him, repeatedly insisting that she loved him.

From then on, Yan Wenzhao finally discovered the pleasure of being reborn.

He watched her court him and stand up for him, even become estranged from everyone for his sake, and found himself developing a taste for it.

Returning to the Eastern Palace, Yan Wenzhao walked toward Ruan Qingdai, kneeling at the foot of the steps, and smiled tenderly. "Stay. You can still be the crown princess of the Eastern Palace."

But Ruan Qingdai dodged his touch, her face deathly pale. Her eyes held no love anymore, only fear and loathing.

"As a wife follows her husband, this common woman should leave the palace with her husband."

That night, the scene from Ruan Qingdai's dreams came to pass once more.

Pinned before a mirror, her robe slipping and sash undone, her lipstick smudged, Yan Wenzhao leaned close to her ear, his voice low and husky. "Meimei, who is your husband?"

[Sweet on the outside, dark and unhinged on the inside vs. gentle beauty]

1. One-on-one romance, both leads' first time, happy ending

2. Both leads are reborn: the male lead retains his memories from his previous life throughout, while the female lead only recalls hers later

3. Melodrama, possessive love

Theme: Staying alive is what matters most.