Jade in the Ashes

[Blurb One]

The year she is about to come of age, Cen Qingbi hears that her father and brothers intend to marry her off as a favored concubine to the current Left Chancellor. Stunned for a moment, she immediately packs her things, climbs over the wall, and makes her escape.

What kind of ridiculous joke is this?

The Left Chancellor is more than thirty years older than her, older even than her own father!

But just as one leg clears the wall, she runs into a young man whose cheeks and hands are stained with blood.

Cen Qingbi: ...

In ancient times, the founding emperor's great undertaking was cut short before it was halfway complete. Today, Yingying's escape from marriage barely gets underway before disaster strikes.

She pretends to be naive and clueless, tilts her head, and smiles sweetly at him. “Hey, big brother, are you looking for a good person who'll give you room and board?”

The young man: “...”

[Blurb Two]

Shen Jin was trained as an assassin from childhood. He knows nothing of love and is nothing but a weapon that obeys orders.

But when Cen Qingbi forcefully stuffs a candied hawthorn skewer into his mouth, he unexpectedly tastes a hint of sweetness.

The little girl standing on tiptoe before him smiles and says, “Even someone without feelings should still have their five senses, Xiao Jin. You're a living person, carried by your mother for ten months and brought into this world. You're not a puppet.”

In that moment,

a narrow crack is finally split in the endless night, and a beam of light slips through.

The faint sound of threads snapping comes from somewhere nearby.

[Blurb Three]

Cen Qingbi is naturally perceptive and understands what Shen Jin has been through. She doesn't expect him to understand the full range of human emotions; she only hopes he'll think a little more about himself.

Who could have guessed that one day he would suddenly take her hand and plead softly, “Yingying, call me Zixu.”

That is the name he was meant to have.

He should not be ashes scattered between heaven and earth.

He should be a catalpa tree that endures for a thousand years.

[Reading Guide]

1. A formerly cold, later devoted young assassin x a clever, unruly young lady of a marquis's household

2. One-on-one romance, with both leads experiencing their first love

3. The plot may not be all sweetness, but the romance is guaranteed to be at least seventy percent sweet

Theme: Be self-reliant and grow toward the sun.