Broken Jade, Begging for Pearls

When Song Yu was eight, his father sent him to the Chu royal palace, where he became a hostage.

He thought he would spend his life buried in winter, but he was fortunate enough to see the dawn of spring.

When Song Yu was eighteen, he was welcomed back to the Song kingdom and made crown prince.

At twenty, the year he came of age, he asked his father for permission to marry Jun Ning, the princess of Chu.

The Emperor of Song granted his request. Song Yu had never been more grateful to his father.

Just as he happily looked forward to finally welcoming his spring sunshine into his arms, the Song kingdom destroyed Chu.

The hatred between their kingdoms and families drove them apart. From then on, clouds covered the sun, the bright pearl was blemished, and all light was gone.

But he still couldn’t accept it. He forced her to stay by his side, hoping for even the slightest chance to turn things around.

He asked, “A Ning, if I told you that I never wanted Chu destroyed, would you... believe me?”

He said, “A Ning, I can’t accept this.”

“What have we done to deserve such a punishment?”

He held her hand and pressed the sharp blade of a dagger against his chest. His eyes were bloodshot, filled with anguished devotion. “Do you truly want to kill me?”

Just as Chu Jun Ning was eagerly awaiting her wedding to Song Yu, the Song kingdom destroyed her country.

From then on, the love she had given him was betrayed, and the man she loved became her enemy.

But when she was on the verge of death, he saved her and demanded that she live and become his crown princess.

“If you die or escape, I’ll wipe out every last person in Chu.”

How ridiculous. After all this, why pretend to love her?

She watched coldly as he staggered along alone and put on a one-man show to deceive himself. Yet when blood soaked through the front of his clothes, the hand holding her dagger trembled ever so slightly.

But broken jade could never be made whole. She couldn’t choose between love and country, between family and affection.

With peach blossoms drifting in the warm spring breeze, spring in full bloom, she would finally bury herself in a dream.

[Reading Guide]

1. A princess from a fallen kingdom x a hostage from an enemy state. One-on-one romance, BE! BE! BE! (Though I suppose they were practically childhood sweethearts.)

2. A short novel, around 100,000 characters.

3. The male lead isn’t a scumbag, at least in my opinion.

4. Before the ending, there’ll be an ending that looks [a little] happy. If you really don’t like BE endings, you can treat that one as the ending.

5. [Updates] Three chapters on launch day, then updates follow the rankings schedule if there is one. Otherwise, probably every other day.

6. I can’t think of anything else for now, so take a look at my upcoming novels first =v=

Upcoming Historical Romance 1: Spoiling the Emperor

Two years after the new emperor ascended the throne, he finally agreed to appoint an empress, following the relentless urging of his officials and the Empress Dowager.

After much searching, the officials settled on Wen Ran, the legitimate granddaughter of Grand Secretary Wen.

Everyone in the Wen family looked deeply worried.

On her wedding day, they surrounded Wen Ran and spent the whole night warning her to keep her temper in check and avoid getting herself into trouble.

So every day, she had to mind the rules and propriety, handle all the affairs of the harem, and put up with the Emperor constantly causing trouble for her.

For example, the Emperor always wanted to chat just as she was about to go to sleep. She would be fighting to keep her eyes open, and he would leave after saying only a couple of things.

Another example: The Emperor loved inviting the capital’s noblewomen and ladies to banquets in the palace for every major and minor holiday. She would be rushed off her feet, and he would drop by for a look before leaving.

And then there were days when the Emperor wanted someone’s head chopped off at court. The officials couldn’t talk him out of it, so they would all rush to her and “ask the Empress to fulfill her duty and persuade him.”

She wanted nothing more than to drag him over and give him a beating, but with her family watching, she could only grit her teeth and smile.

Until she dreamed that she finally took power and became emperor, while her good-for-nothing husband, who was always causing trouble for her, knelt before her with a baffled look on his face.

She grinned wickedly. “Guards! Throw him out! Send him to the royal treasury to count the rice!”

The Emperor, still trying to make sense of what was happening: “?”

Zhao Jingxi had been having strange dreams lately. In them, his gentle and charming empress became an emperor who picked fights with him every day.

And he became one of her male consorts, forced to take the lower position with no way to resist, and left to endure the humiliation.

Whenever he woke and remembered the humiliation in his dreams, he couldn’t help gritting his teeth and thinking he would settle the score with the Empress that day.

But every time he saw her, she was still as gentle and well-mannered as ever. He would close his eyes and clench his fist. It was just a dream. He had to stay calm.

A wise ruler shouldn’t take out his anger on someone because of a baseless dream.

So he kept enduring it. Awake, he treated the Empress with mutual respect and courtesy. In his dreams, he battled wits with her.

Until one day, the Empress in his dream wanted him to spend the night with her

After waking, Zhao Jingxi leaned against his pillow and looked at the faint morning light outside the window. Remembering the soft warmth of her lips in his dream, he sighed.

I’m done for. I’ve fallen for her!

Meanwhile, Wen Ran patted her still-pounding chest.

That was close. I almost fell for him!

[Reading Guide]

1. One-on-one romance, happy ending. It should be a light, sweet little story.

2. Reality and dreams alternate, with more scenes in reality later on.

3. The setting is fictional, as usual. Don’t overthink the historical details.

4. Please add it to your favorites!

Upcoming Historical Romance 2: Stealing Your Heart

Shen Jue was a rising star at court, becoming Vice Minister of Personnel at a young age.

Everyone wanted to marry their daughter to him, but his eyes were fixed on the woman standing beside Heir Qi, her head lowered and gaze downcast.

No one knew that she was supposed to have been his wife.

As the heir’s wife in the marquis’s household, Su Yumian’s life was not going well.

She had been forced to marry into the household for the sake of her family, but the heir didn’t love her, and the people in the household looked down on her.

But she never let it trouble her. She only wanted to live out her days like this and cherish the one she loved in her heart.

Until she ran into the man she had once thought about day and night on the street again

Shen Jue had thought he hated her for turning her back on him and marrying someone else. But after seeing her again, he realized he had never stopped loving her.

She once abandoned him for a powerful man. Now he was powerful. What reason did she have to leave him?

The lanterns had just been lit, and darkness filled the night.

He trapped the woman he had longed for in a hollow between rocks and leaned toward her.

He threatened her with a laugh. “Tell me, if the heir finds out, will he be angry, or will he send you to me?”

But when he saw the tears in her eyes and her expression of disbelief, almost as if he were a stranger, he released his hold and looked away. “Stop crying.”

He hated her fiercely, and loved her just as fiercely.

At court, he wielded power and enjoyed boundless prestige.

But with her, he kept backing down, again and again.

Until she came on behalf of her clan and knelt before him, begging him to spare Heir Qi

He looked at the beautiful woman kneeling before him and laughed in anger.

“If I spare him, what about you?”

He crouched down and brushed her smooth, delicate chin with his hand.

Ignoring her trembling body, he lowered his head and kissed the tears from her face.

His low, bewitching voice rang in her ear, coaxing her word by word:

“You should... kill him with me.”

[Reading Guide]

1. The female lead is not sexually inexperienced, while the male lead is. Happy ending. (I probably wouldn’t have mentioned this, but technically, the female lead isn’t sexually inexperienced.)

2. Childhood sweethearts and first love, mutually devoted. The leads won’t be together until after the divorce.

3. Fictional setting, no historical scrutiny, love you~

4. It’ll probably be mostly from the female lead’s perspective, but I haven’t written it yet, so it may be split more evenly.

And now I’d like to recommend a modern BE novel by a friend (also a short story of around 100,000 characters, so give it a try if you’re interested).

No Words by Klein Blue

A story about going from having everything to say to having nothing left to say

*

Many years later, Chu Weiyang saw a familiar figure she hadn’t seen in a long time outside the Yunyang Senior Home. He was distant yet polite, as though they had never known each other. “Hello, Zhang Ercheng.”

She pushed down her memories and returned the same formal greeting. “Hello, Mr. Zhang. Thank you so much for the care Yunyang has given my grandmother.”

It was the most ordinary tone, yet it was enough to make Zhang Ercheng’s heart ache dully.

He remembered the past, when the lively, spirited sound of “Zhang Ercheng” rang in his ears every day.

She had said, “Zhang Ercheng, you have to keep listening to me chatter by your side forever!”

In the end, she said calmly, “Zhang Ercheng, have we run out of things to say to each other?”

“Two intersecting lines, after meeting at a point, head off in different directions, growing farther and farther apart.”

It turned out he wouldn’t be the one listening to her chatter year after year.

So, in the end, may your future be bright and may everything go your way.

I wish you well, and I wish myself well too.

Theme: Even in the depths of despair, flowers can bloom