Snakes Are Dangerous, Yet Incredibly Beautiful

*The physical edition is now available. Follow @JinjiangPickAShadow on Weibo Blurb: Second Miss Fang has a face like a hibiscus flower and a gentle, even-tempered nature. She is sensible and filial, but sadly, she was born a concubine’s daughter. Her mother died young, and Second Miss Fang grew up walking on eggshells in the shadow of the principal wife and her elder sister. Her greatest wish is to secure a good marriage for herself. One rainy day, with cicadas and frogs calling all around, she went out to a temple to offer incense and found a little silver snake with red, slit-pupil eyes. Everyone in the family, from the elders to the servants, was afraid of it. Second Miss Fang thought it was beautiful, though, and secretly kept it in her bedroom. Second Miss Fang often went to the temple because she had taken a liking to one of her father’s students, the young master of the Yao family. His learning was average and his family was well-off but not wealthy, yet he was handsome and earnest. Whenever he saw her, he would blush, avert his gaze, and bow politely. Second Miss Fang wanted to marry him. Perhaps her heartfelt prayers had worked, because the elders on both sides gave their approval. Second Miss Fang waited eagerly for the young master of the Yao family to come ask for her hand. But that day, thunder suddenly roared outside, and the wind howled without pause. Second Miss Fang never got the message from the maid in the front courtyard. Instead, the window of her bedroom was violently smashed open. Second Miss Fang turned back in shock. A red-eyed young man with soft white hair draped over his shoulders, his bare upper body as pale as snow, lounged in the window and drawled, “Who are you going to marry?” Before she could answer, he burst through the wall. Second Miss Fang watched in disbelief as he dragged a long, enormous silver-white serpent’s tail toward her. He coiled around her, pressed his icy cheek against hers, and whined clingily, “Didn’t you say I was the prettiest little snake, and that you liked me best?” [Content warnings] 1. Readers who are devoted to the male lead, beware. He suffers. He is an extreme simp with a love-addled brain. 2. The male lead’s suffering is an objective fact, but this is not a cathartic story about torturing him. The whole novel is about romance. It is a story about a man saving a woman, with melodramatic elements and scenes where the leads fail to communicate. 3. The heroine can be timid and cowardly, awkward and stubborn. She grows, but she is definitely not the typical strong female lead. If you don’t like her, please don’t attack her. 4. The author welcomes reasonable criticism of the story and will reflect and improve. But I will also defend the heroine’s character and reject any insulting remarks directed at her. Please choose your words carefully. 5. In short, this is neither a wish-fulfillment story nor a strong-female-lead story. It is a bittersweet romance about small affections and a small world, with a happy ending. Coming soon: Her Mute Shadow Guard. Please add it to your reading list! Blurb: Guan Xuan spent seven whole years fighting for survival in a hidden chamber with no daylight. At last, when she was thirteen, she became the sole shadow guard serving Zhao Rongzhang. At the time, Zhao Rongzhang was the most revered Princess Yingrong of Great Zhou. If she wanted something, she could have the finest things in the world. She wanted the most obedient, useful shadow, one whose existence would never be known to anyone else. And so the mute little Guan Xuan came before her: he had slaughtered his way out of the hidden chamber, carried wounds all over his body, and was on the verge of death, yet could not even let out a faint groan of pain. Later, whether the finest things in her life were lost or regained, through all the ebb and flow, only little mute Guan Xuan remained, the most loyal and silent shadow at her back. So loyal that when she told him to kneel on the bed and let down the curtains, he could only blink his bright, glossy eyes, lower his head in embarrassment, and obediently do as she asked. So silent that no matter how she teased him, even when she deliberately asked, “Won’t you say you love me?” he could not force out a single clear word, and could only hide his face in shame. Zhao Rongzhang liked to toy with his reddened ears, exposed among his tousled hair, and teach him with a laugh, “Love. Me. Got it?” So careless was her manner. So careless was her manner, yet Guan Xuan thought to himself that he would reclaim, one by one, everything that had once belonged to her. He would cut down every loathsome maggot and lowly insect she hated and despised. He would make his love so clear that she could hear it even if one day she sat in the highest position in the world. No matter how many sounds filled the world, none would drown it out. Also completed: The Cool but Clingy Heir and Spring Breeze Through the Silk Curtains. If you’re interested, feel free to check them out in my author page! Theme: Embrace life