Has the Scholar Today's Burned His Bridges Yet?

1, Yu Wen used to love Jiang Fu very much. She offered him her whole burning heart, seeing no one else. Until the day someone doused her with tea. Yu Wen stood in the wind, feeling unwell. Before she could speak, her cousin had already turned pale and burst into tears. Everyone began pointing fingers. Their curses came crashing down like a tidal wave. Yu Wen turned to flee, only to collide with someone’s embrace. Jiang Fu wore a crimson court robe and looked like an immortal, yet the first words out of his mouth were, “Dongyue, apologize.” The taut string in Yu Wen’s mind snapped in an instant. So she smashed the jade flute he had given her in front of everyone, then resolutely accepted the Marquis’s marriage proposal and found herself a new love. The proud young top-scorer was not about to back down either. He coldly tore up the fan they had exchanged as a token of affection, then turned around and made a marriage pact with another young lady. She thought their fate had ended there. Who could have known that on her wedding night, Jiang Fu would lead soldiers into her wedding hall? Their joy was destroyed, and blood stained the pillow they shared. That night, the red candles wept, and the bedding turned cold. The young man in armor bent over her, his cool, indifferent fingers slowly wiping away the tears on her cheek. Before he left, he said only, “Dongyue, you must atone for your sins.” From then on, the pampered legitimate daughter of the Yu family, who had never lifted a finger, became a lowly palace slave, beneath even the grass, whom anyone could bully. 2, When Yu Wen woke, she looked at the person beside her. The emperor had long brows that reached his temples, a high nose, and thin lips. His face was identical to the top-scorer in her dream. In an instant, she felt as if she had fallen into an icy abyss. ...How could they have become entangled again? Everyone in the harem said the emperor favored a palace maid every night, choosing her alone from among three thousand beauties. But no one knew that the cramped, dim imperial bed was her worst nightmare. Whenever Jiang Fu forced her to make a sound by her ear, and all she could say through bitten lips was, “Thank you for your imperial grace,” the man’s fingers tightened slightly around her waist, and the palace gates would remain shut for three days and three nights. That day, the emperor and empress were married. Yu Wen, dressed in plain white, lifted her head and gazed at the pure, cloudless blue at the edge of the sky. The wind had passed and the clouds had dispersed; the past was gone. Beneath her lay a sacrificial pit strewn with bones. Fiery magma churned below, its blazing heat licking at the hem of her skirt. “Dongyue!” Yu Wen spread her arms. As if she did not see the tall figure rushing toward her, she leaped from the sacrificial altar. 3, Yu Wen lived a quiet life with the one she loved, undisturbed by anyone. She only heard that the emperor, who had looked down upon the world from his lofty throne, had gone mad. Whenever he woke from the cold, endless night, he would smear blood on a spirit-summoning banner and hang it in the Golden Hall, then order monks to chant sutras without pause. He built twelve multi-eaved Buddhist pagodas outside the city, spent a fortune drilling through the entire dragon vein, and carved a thousand caves as offerings. Deep in one of the caves, he enshrined nothing but an old garment belonging to a woman. The man knelt before the Buddha all night, gouging blood from his own heart and using it to light incense. When the smoke had cleared, he opened his eyes. He saw only Buddhas filling the heavens, not the smiling face of the one he had lost. [Extra scene] Jiang Fu lay on his back on the ground, his eyes reflecting shapeless wisps of smoke in the air. After a long while, the man laughed and coughed up blood. A faint, shimmering red stained his lips... Your heart was so resolute to the end, my love. Your soul never came to visit me in my dreams. - #I longed again and again for someone from my past to return, only to bring about the Peach Blossom Sin# #I swear I will not think of you. You must not think of me# Heroine: Yu Wen, formal name Yu Weishuang, courtesy name Dongyue. Hero: Jiang Fu, courtesy name Chengbi Reader’s guide: 1. A beautiful, fierce heroine with a touch of a “everyone is drawn to her” quality, paired with an obsessive, highly intelligent hero driven mad by abuse. 2. The heroine is a resilient, clear-headed beauty, radiant as a peony with a fire in her heart. The hero seems like an aloof, noble flower on the surface, but is scheming, dark, and twisted inside. 3. The second male lead rises to the top, much to everyone’s delight. The devoted male supporting character need not wait another lifetime. 4. The heroine remains steadfastly devoted to her childhood sweetheart, her true love and unattainable ideal; the beautiful, powerful, tragic hero is unloved, and his forced possession remains an affair with the other woman. 5. The heroine fakes her death. The hero and second male lead are both virgins. Check out my upcoming novel, After Deceiving the Aloof Nobleman: A saint’s secret desire / The gentleman becomes an obsessive, unhinged madman Synopsis So Wang Guanling hated her. Xuxu only realized it belatedly. Wang Guanling was the eldest son of the Langya Wang clan, unrivaled in nobility and elegance. Wherever he went, the people parted before him, and even members of other aristocratic clans greeted him with the respect due to an elder. She had no family background or inherited position, and made a living collecting the bodies of the dead. When she saw a noble like him, she had to kneel by the roadside with her face hidden by her sleeve, and wait until his carriage had passed before she dared to look up. Yet someone like her had saved him when he was gravely wounded and suffering from amnesia, then deceived him for an entire year. It was a stormy night when Wang Guanling collapsed outside her home. The young lord was as beautiful as spring and as pure as frost beneath the moon, with an extraordinary bearing, but his tastes were ruinously expensive. A single garment was worth a hundred taels of gold. She had meant to get rid of this hot potato, but then he spoke. His voice was clear and cool, reminding her of someone from her past. He said he had lost his memory and had nowhere to go. So she told a brazen lie: “We’re husband and wife.” Whenever they made love, she covered her eyes with a piece of cloth, greedy only for his voice, as clear as fresh snow. And he always panted by her ear, telling her again and again that he loved her. - After Wang Guanling returned home, rumors spread all around. The eldest son of the Langya Wang clan, once so adept at scheming and maneuvering, had become detached to the core. When she brought him tea, he took it and set it aside without looking at her hands. When she spoke, he replied with an “Mm” and said no more. Now and then, when their eyes met, she saw no tenderness in his gaze, only a cold scrutiny, as though he were sizing up a stranger. “The eldest young lord must have tired of that woman from a humble clan,” everyone said. At first, she did not believe it. Until one night, she approached him first, only for him to silently push her away. He stood beneath the lamplight, the candlelight illuminating his face, handsome and detached. There was not a trace of his former infatuation in his eyes. He said only, “I, Wang Guanling, would never fall for someone like you.” - The Wang clan discovered that she had used sorcery to bewitch her master and alter his memories, and they wanted to beat her to death. Xuxu’s hands and feet were shackled as she knelt before the hall. All around her, the Langya Wang clan seethed with anger. Blades gleamed, and a chill pressed in from every side. Wang Guanling sat in the seat of honor, looking down at everything without grief or joy, like a god or Buddha. Only when the clan elder asked how he would deal with her did he speak, his voice emotionless: “Since she had no intention of harming anyone, there’s no need to punish her. Give her a residence and provide her with fine clothes and food. We must not let outsiders say the Wang clan is cruel.” Everyone said the eldest young lord was benevolent and impartial. But it was this very coldness, this heartless indifference, that made her see him clearly for the first time. She realized she could no longer feel the possessive desire she had once felt for him. Xuxu left a letter of apology and departed in silence. - War broke out in the Central Plains, and Xuxu fled with a great many refugees. On the road, she met a man. He resembled her late husband more than Wang Guanling did. His face, voice, and mannerisms were all the same. She did not dare make another mistake. But this time, the other person recognized her first and called to her through choked sobs: “Xuxu, I’ve missed you so much.” Their reunion as husband and wife felt like a dream from another lifetime. Overcome with joy, she could only say that Heaven had treated her kindly. They decided to return to their old home for a visit. But halfway there, clouds of dust rose ahead. The Wang clan’s banners flew, carriages filled the road, and they blocked the way. The cold, intimidating nobleman, aloof and impossible to approach, wore a loose belt and light furs as he stepped out of the carriage and strode toward them. - From then on, Wang Guanling was behind her every night. This cold-hearted, dispassionate gentleman slipped his long, elegant hands beneath her clothes and toyed with her as he pleased, giving her no choice. When he had had his fill, he coaxed her into taking up a brush and painting his portrait: his brows, eyes, nose, and lips, every detail had to be exact. For every mistake, he added another hour of punishment. Afterward, he gathered the blushing woman in his arms and spoke in a gentle, husky voice: “Xuxu, deceive me one more time. Tell me you’re my wife.” - For Wang Guanling, hatred was the strongest aphrodisiac... Xuxu was the only medicine he needed. Theme: Love yourself before you love others