Though I Do Not Go

"Knock, knock, knock." A stone struck the wooden door again and again. When Lu Ziqi opened the gate with a grim expression, he had no idea that the little girl before him, wearing only one shoe, would change his life. In the twenty-second year of Changde, a boy at the end of his rope gained a soft-spoken, sweet little sister, and a girl on the brink of despair found a brother who would love her with all his heart. Ten years together. The warm autumn sun. Clusters of blue plumbago climbed by the window. Lu Ziqi turned a black chess piece between his fingers. Once he made his move, he would win, and then tell her Before the black piece could touch the board, the girl by the window suddenly looked up amid the sudden commotion. Lu Ziqi saw his father, who prided himself on being a man of integrity, treating an old woman with the utmost respect, while his stepmother, who prided herself on her beauty, was dressed in pearls and jewels, yet somehow looked ill at ease beside this old woman, who wore nothing but a single silver hairpin. Before Lu Ziqi could make his move, he heard the girl beside him speak softly: "Nanny, you've come." The imposing old woman abruptly turned around, and tears immediately streamed down her face. All of Lincheng was shocked. The orphan the Lu family had taken in the crown prince of the current dynasty was her cousin; the powerful Third Prince had been betrothed to her since childhood. The General Who Guarded the North and could drive back a thousand enemies was the little uncle she was always talking about. This supposed fake heiress, mocked for clinging to the Lu family, was actually a true-born noblewoman. The Lu family was bursting with joy, but the eldest young master of the Lu family alone turned pale, clutching the cold black piece that would never get the chance to make its move. The game had changed. All his plans had come to nothing. Lincheng's young gentleman, Lu Ziqi, lowered his inscrutable gaze, smiled, and bowed to the newcomer: "This junior's surname is Lu, courtesy name Chongli. Yinyin calls me, " "Big Brother." [Reading Tips] 1. The early chapters focus on the two young people growing up together and saving each other, with a familial bond. Only after the heroine turns sixteen does the hero realize his feelings have changed, and the story turns romantic. 2. 1v1; HE. , Coming Soon: Moonlit Pearl (Reborn) Mu Yuexia was a commandery princess, titled Bright Pearl, and the only surviving legitimate descendant of Emperor Renzong. She had always been self-willed and used to getting her way, yet her marriage was the one thing she could not have as she wished. She and Song Jin were worlds apart. One was radiant and bold, born into imperial wealth. The other was reserved and restrained, born into poverty. When they first met, one stood high above the capital's noblewomen, a singular presence, surrounded by attendants, while the other led a gray mule and carried cold, hard rations into the bustling capital, walking with lowered eyes among the throngs of wealthy young gentlemen. If Yuexia didn't want a marriage, then she wouldn't have one. She and the crown prince were childhood sweethearts and deeply in love. She would divorce him even if it meant defying her father and going against the empress dowager. She married a second time, yet still ascended the empress's throne and became the nation's mother. Yuexia ought to have had her way. Until she set the curtains alight with her own hands and burned down Kunning Palace. In the flames, she watched the pregnant Imperial Noble Consort, who had everything under control, stare at her in disbelief. She watched the emperor, renowned for his extraordinary elegance and still as handsome as ever, suddenly twist his face in rage as he stumbled and shouted. Amid the fire, Yuexia laughed with the same bold abandon as always. At twenty-two, the empress threw herself into the fire and met her death without hesitation, sacrificing herself to defend the legitimate line of Emperor Renzong. No one knew that in the last moments of her life, Yuexia, still smiling, was in pain. Her greatest regret in this life was not being forced by the man she had once loved to burn herself alive in order to win the struggle for the imperial marriage, but rather Song Jin, I have wronged you all my life. Theme: May all lovers be united.