Lord Zheng He Has Set Sail for the Western Seas Yet Again!

Bu Jinle picked out her ideal husband early on. He was in his prime, handsome, tall, broad-minded, and considerate.

The only flaw was that every time he turned her down, he disappeared without a trace.

Holding the many creatively worded letters he'd left behind to reject her, she couldn't think of any way to force him to stay.

The reason, as always:

He'd gone on another voyage to the Western Ocean.

Zheng He had made many voyages to the Western Ocean, capturing pirates, raising the prestige of the empire, and narrowly escaping death at sea. Every time he returned to Nanjing, he was invited to banquets everywhere, where people joked that there was probably nothing in the world that could frighten Lord Zheng.

He paused and smiled wryly.

Later, after a few rounds of drinks, the conversation somehow turned to the “fox husband” recently hired by Miss Bu.

Rumor had it that the man was a handsome nine-tailed fox in human form, who had secretly used seductive fox magic to bewitch Miss Bu. She was so smitten that she was determined to marry the fox scholar. It was truly hilarious.

They laughed about it over their drinks, treating it as a bit of table talk that would soon be forgotten.

But no one noticed Zheng He's fingers tightening around his wine cup, or the fist he clenched beneath his sleeve.

#I've only been gone a few years. How did a fox steal my place?#

#All right, you, come out and let's see what you've got.#

1. A sunny, lively girl who boldly pursues love x a considerate, kindhearted older man who sometimes turns down her advances because he feels unworthy (crossed out).

2. A fantastical spin-off series with a lot of settings mixed together. This is the Ming Dynasty in the [Huaxia Series] universe, so treat it as a parallel world!

3. You won't regret giving it a try _(:з"∠)_

*“I've only sailed along the shores of Jinling. I've never seen the vast open ocean.”

*“I've drifted at sea for so long, unable to return home. I'm afraid I might suddenly fall ill one day and sink into the vast ocean. How could I dare to keep my old love in my heart?”

* Inside Nanjing, pleasure boats drift along the river, filled with laughter, games, and playful banter. Silk flower decorations blanket the water.

On the open ocean, a ship on an official mission cuts through the waves, a fleeting mayfly amid raging winds and rain.

A young woman rests her chin in her hand and gazes out the window at the ocean, forever beyond her reach.

A man in an embroidered official robe watches the land of the Ming recede into the distance, gently clutching in his hand the silk flower that once adorned her hair.

* The handsome fox looks back at the Ming lands to the east, reluctant to leave, but in the end turns and runs toward the distant, mist-shrouded Penglai.

Theme: Travelers from Wu and Chu flock to the riverlands, where the southeast's finest city stands magnificent.