Ling Li dwells in the Moon Palace, revered as the sovereign of the Six Departments and Thirty-Two Clans. Her elegance is peerless, unmatched beneath the heavens. In the eyes of her subjects and many admirers, she truly is like the bright moon in the sky, flawless in every way.
The only thing people can criticize is her Dao companion, Xue Chengyan.
==
Ling Li knows what kind of man Xue Chengyan is.
He is a weapon meticulously cultivated in the depths of the hundred thousand mountains: sinister, cruel, and vengeful.
Relying on his own strength and the backing behind him, he does as he pleases. He has united the mountain clans to stand against her, and in less than two years since they formed their bond, he has thrown the entire Moon Realm into turmoil.
For years, Ling Li and he have fought ruthlessly for power, their schemes and counter-schemes unending. In the end, she set a trap that brought him down, and he was bound and sentenced.
What she doesn't know is this:
A man like him has secretly borne a body full of old wounds for her, and shouldered immeasurable guilt.
==
After discovering the truth, Ling Li goes to Xue Chengyan's other residence on a rainy night.
Hearing that she has come, Xue Chengyan rises and throws on a robe. He stands beneath the eaves, leaning on a lantern, his face flushed and his fever still raging as he watches her approach coldly.
On that stormy night, in the dim light, the young man who once resembled a clear moon and gentle breeze is now gaunt and frail. When his attendant explains the sovereign's reason for coming, he doesn't even glance at the rare treasures laid before him. He scoffs at her unprecedented proposal that they “live together in peace.”
He only claps his hands and laughs for a long while, his eyes glinting with mockery. Then he says, word by word, “At our wedding ceremony, you swore that from then on, we would lean on each other like pine and ivy, live in harmony like a zither and lute, and love only one person for all the years to come.”
“Your Majesty.”
“Yet you broke your vow long ago.”
He will never, ever trust her again.
1. The story begins with the final line of the blurb. The male lead is 99% corrupted, only to get face-slapping and doted on all over again.
2. Both leads are powerful.
3. I'll start posting once I have a backlog. Estimated start: November 2024.
Theme: Love and being loved.
