Beyond the Sky Screen

"After Ling Anye left, Qiu Minghui finally realized she was no longer part of his world."

Ling Anye transmigrated as the granddaughter of a grandee who had served three dynasties in Dayue.

Her husband, Qiu Minghui, was a rising star at court. Their marriage was happy, they had a daughter, and for several years they were the envy of everyone around them.

Qiu Minghui treated her wonderfully. Worried that she would grow bored at home while he was too busy with official duties to keep her company, he wrote to invite a distant young cousin to keep her company.

The cousin was indeed considerate, but it was not until eight months later, when she was pregnant and tearfully begging Ling Anye to forgive her, that Ling Anye learned her real name was Liu Yuzhen. She and Qiu Minghui had been childhood sweethearts, separated only because the Liu family had been convicted and exiled to the border.

Qiu Minghui, too, begged Ling Anye to let her stay. He said, "Zhenzhen has no family left but me, and she's carrying my child. Since things have come to this, why not let her move into the residence so we can look after one another?"

Ling Anye's answer was to slap a divorce letter in Qiu Minghui's face and return to the modern world with their four-year-old daughter.

*

After a few days without seeing Ling Anye, Qiu Minghui was not worried.

She was just throwing a tantrum. Which noblewoman in the capital wouldn't graciously accept her husband's taking a concubine? Once she came to her senses, she would naturally return and devote herself to arranging the concubine's ceremony.

But from that day on, Qiu Minghui noticed a sky screen appearing before his eyes.

At first, the sky screen showed his wife and daughter. Without his protection, they were poorly clothed and living miserable lives...

Or so he thought.

Were they really eating lychees in the desert?

How could there be lychees in the desert?

Before long, Qiu Minghui saw another man appear beside his wife and daughter through the sky screen. He treated them with the utmost care, gradually taking his place...

The scenes before his eyes tormented him again and again.

No. He would not allow it.

That was... his wife.

Before transmigrating, Ling Anye had a marriage arranged for her.

The two of them tacitly followed the terms of their arrangement, keeping out of each other's affairs and maintaining a harmonious facade.

After she transmigrated back and recovered from a serious illness, her arranged partner politely sent her a bouquet of flowers. The card bore a courteous greeting and the signature Wen Yanzhou.

Not long afterward, Ling Anye attended a lecture. During the break, her cousin called and urged her to bring Wen Yanzhou home for the holiday.

Ling Anye covered the phone's microphone. Not noticing someone had taken the empty seat beside her, she lied with practiced ease: "Wen Yanzhou is very busy with work. He probably can't get away. I'll call and ask him."

Two minutes later, Ling Anye called her cousin back and lied without hesitation. "Wen Yanzhou says he's in Berlin. He just got off the plane and has to rush to a meeting."

Her cousin's disappointed voice had barely faded from the receiver when a soft laugh sounded beside her. She turned in surprise and met a pair of deep-set eyes.

Before her mind could recognize him, her body had already sounded the alarm.

Ling Anye pinched her pale fingertips and calmly said, "What a coincidence."

The person she had lied about had heard every word.

Prickly twin blossoms x refined and genteel

Two timelines unfolding in parallel

I dammed a river, then turned around and stepped into that same river again.

I don't like rivers, but I like you, who passes through them.

-

I have traveled roads of autumn winds, frost, and rain. At the end of the fading light, I find a springtime terrace.

(2025.10.31)

Theme: Don't punish yourself for someone else's mistakes. Welcome a better version of yourself.