*1
Yan Lanshuang had never planned to secure herself any so-called bright future.
Beneath the seemingly splendid title of the Yan family, the Marquesses of Yuansheng, lay nothing but decline, with no real official power to support it.
Yan Lanshuang had always understood that her family's title existed to humiliate them, and that it must have offended many people.
Just as she expected, on her twelfth birthday, the imperial court issued an edict stripping the Yan family of its noble title, exiling the entire household and confiscating its wealth for the state treasury.
She thought that from then on, life would merely be a little harder and money a little tighter. But the imperial decree the palace officials were supposed to bring never arrived. Instead, overnight, the entire Yan family was executed, and a blazing fire lit up the vast night sky.
In the dead of night, as danger closed in, her mother pushed her onto a merchant ship bound for Qiantang to escape. From then on, Yan Lanshuang ceased to exist. All that remained was Li Minghua, the third daughter the Qiantang county magistrate had just acknowledged as his own.
The third young lady was lovely as a spring flower, with skin like snow. She was truly one of the finest beauties in all of Jiangnan. Yet, strangely, nobody ever saw her during the annual Lantern Festival, and no invitation could persuade her to attend.
That made sense, after all. Li Minghua's birthday fell on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, in the snowy depths of winter, not during the bustling Lantern Festival.
*2
Though the Li family of Qiantang lived far from Bianjing, its twists and turns were no fewer than those of the capital. By comparison, however, the young ladies' concerns were much simpler and more straightforward.
During her five years in Qiantang, she carried a burden of responsibility and grief as heavy as black iron. She kept drawing closer to the truth behind the Yan family's wrongful conviction, doing everything she could to peel back the thick layers of dried blood with her trembling hands.
The road was difficult, but along the way she met someone who walked beside her.
She saw herself only as the lone surviving daughter of the Yan family. He saw her only as a priceless treasure.
At last, Lanshuang remembered that once she set aside all her responsibilities and hatred, she was only a young woman who had turned fifteen two years ago.
*3
"I have a secret."
"On the Lantern Festival night five years ago, I snatched someone's carp lantern on the Ferry Bridge. It wasn't for any other reason. I simply fell in love at first sight with that bright little bamboo-framed paper lantern."
The young woman held a newly made carp lantern in her hand. Beneath the dim, low-hanging light, she looked at the person before her, reached out, and slowly offered him the lantern.
"Only later did I learn that the carp lantern had been deliberately placed in my path, a beautiful trap that drew me in without my realizing it, until I was drunk on a soft couch beneath fragrant curtains, wanting nothing but this dreamlike happiness."
"He knew who I was, where I lived, and what I truly wanted."
"He helped me, indulged me, respected me, and loved me."
So she fell into that trap with a peaceful heart.
*Set in an alternate Song dynasty, very, very loosely based on it
Reading Guide:
1. One-on-one romance, both leads are each other's first and only, happy ending. A serious historical drama with a slow, gradual romance. The balance of plot to romance may be 6:4. There are many original world-building details, and perhaps some melodrama. None of the characters are based on real people. Any resemblance is purely coincidental.
2. A story about a young woman from a declining marquis family who grows steadily as she overcomes obstacle after obstacle, and accidentally falls in love while uncovering the truth behind her family's wrongful execution.
3. The male lead appears rather late, but there is a male lead, there is a male lead, there is a male lead. To avoid spoiling too much in the blurb, please read the story itself.
*Content warnings: none
[Blurb written on January 11, 2023; final revision on August 6, 2023. Reproduction is prohibited.]
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