Spring Breeze Through the Silk Curtains

* Complete

(Next up: The Willow Lady and My Frail, Blind Husband. Blurbs are at the very bottom. Please add them to your reading lists QAQ.)

Blurb:

The little princess picked up a badly wounded slave boy from the beast-fighting arena.

The little slave was like a wild animal. Whenever anyone approached, his eyes turned bloodred and he bared his teeth, growling fiercely as if he would bite them.

The little princess was the sole exception.

All she had to do was reach out, and he would obediently lower his head, gazing up at her with damp, dark eyes as he whimpered for her to pet him.

Lonely and mischievous, the little princess raised him like a fun little pet. She taught him to speak and write, and even used her clumsy little hands to make him ugly clothes to wear.

Later, the princess grew up, and the powerful and wealthy came knocking in droves, seeking the emperor's permission to marry her.

The little slave gradually came to understand what marriage meant.

At night, he would sneak onto her bed, brush his damp lashes against her cheek, and whimper coquettishly, "Your Highness, marry me. Marry me..."

The little princess's heart softened again. She let her guard down, and spring breezes slipped behind the bed curtains.

Under the moonlight, the little slave kissed the princess's fingertips, his eyes shining as he thought: From now on, he and Her Highness were husband and wife.

* A story about two children growing up together

* An alternate world, with some details inspired by the Ming dynasty

The blurb for the upcoming The Willow Lady. Please add it to your reading list~

Blurb:

Willow Lady came from Jiangnan to seek out her relatives and set up a stand selling tofu pudding in an alley on West Street in the capital.

Every day, she sat in front of her stall, her dark hair loosely pinned up with a thornwood hairpin. Resting her chin in her hand, she lazily moved the abacus beads with lowered eyes. Her smoky blue sleeves slipped to her elbows, revealing a stretch of pale wrist as white as frost and snow.

Everyone from noble lords and royal descendants to peddlers and laborers came by her stall for tofu pudding.

The neighbors all said Willow Lady was shameless and unrestrained, with so many lovers they could line up from West Street to East Street.

Willow Lady never cared about such nasty gossip. In fact, she didn't mind proving it true.

Song Yanzhi, heir to the Marquis of Xuanping's household on Yong'an Lane, was just like his name: upright as an inkstone, disciplined and courteous. Before he had even come of age, he had made a name for himself throughout the capital. He was as pure and clear as fresh snow atop a plum branch.

The two of them should never have crossed paths.

Until one early morning, when his carriage stopped on West Street. As Song Yanzhi lifted the curtain to look outside, he caught sight of Willow Lady, speaking in a lilting Wu dialect as she swayed her soft, alluring waist while welcoming customers.

A young man's heart stirred like endless spring rain, seeping into cracks in the wall and nurturing great patches of damp, shadowy moss that could never see the light.

He tossed and turned, unable to forget her.

From then on, a young man appeared at Willow Lady's tofu pudding stall, gripping the ribs of his folding fan tightly and asking for a bowl of sweet tofu pudding, his ears red.

Later, the young man who barely dared look at her during the day would bury himself against her neck, his damp lashes fluttering as he murmured pleadingly, "Just let me be your only lover, all right?"

/2022.11.13

The blurb for the upcoming My Frail, Blind Husband. Please add it to your reading list~

Blurb:

Unlike her tall, strapping older brothers, General Song's youngest daughter, Song Zhizhi, was as soft and delicate as jade, with a figure like a charming willow.

When circumstances suddenly changed, Song Zhizhi was betrothed to the frail, blind Fifth Prince, Shang Yuxing, to bring him good fortune.

Her brothers were so furious they grabbed their swords and knives, ready to storm the wedding procession, while her usually strong-willed father grew misty-eyed.

Song Zhizhi wiped her tears, lowered the veil over her face, and climbed into the bridal sedan.

On their wedding night, Shang Yuxing heard the timid young woman secretly sobbing. Knowing she felt wronged and didn't want this marriage, he gently kept her company in conversation all night without laying a finger on her.

Song Zhizhi looked at his face, beautiful as if carved by the gods yet cold as porcelain, then at his tall, slender frame that made him cough every five steps. She thought miserably: Shang Yuxing couldn't perform.

Song Zhizhi could accept becoming a widow, but not a widow while her husband was still alive. She sent a letter to her father and brothers, asking them to scour the land for famous doctors to secure her happiness.

Before long, the prince's residence was packed with renowned doctors and practitioners from all walks of life. Shang Yuxing assumed his kind-hearted princess consort was worried about his blindness and frail health, and laughed as he tried to dissuade them. "I have been blind for many years. There's no need to go to all this trouble."

Everyone exchanged glances, then nervously brought over more than a dozen bowls of tonic, murmuring, "Your Highness, this remedy is especially good for restoring virility and boosting your energy..."

Shang Yuxing's lips stiffened.

...Was his sweet, innocent princess consort thinking about that?

[Written on 2022.6.28]

Theme: Embrace life