The Boundless Sea of Officialdom

Complete + happy ending + sweet romance

In the late spring of the eighteenth year of Chang Kang, Chang'an was damp and stiflingly hot. The Jiang family was framed, and the entire household was convicted. The men were beheaded, and the women were exiled. On the day Jiang Mei left the capital, the only person who came to see her off was the powerful eunuch Huo Shi'an, with whom she had long since become estranged. They passed one pavilion after another along the ten-mile road, saying nothing, until they reached the last pavilion outside the capital.

"I thought Miss Jiang would grow old and die with me in the palace," Huo Shi'an said, his loose robes and broad sash billowing in the breeze. "What a pity you weren't so fortunate."

"When did it happen?" Jiang Mei asked calmly.

"What?"

"When did you fall in love with me?"

Huo Shi'an covered his mouth with a smile, affection in his eyes. "Young lady, you can't go around saying things like that. I'm hardly a man, so how could I fall in love with anyone?"

Jiang Mei gave a quiet "Oh" and slowly climbed into the prison cart. Her soft, wistful murmur drifted on the breeze. "But I do rather like you."

Later, that young girl died on the road to exile, but Huo Shi'an never forgot her, not until the day he died.

*

When Huo Shi'an opened his eyes, he had returned to the year Jiang Mei was five.

Jiang Mei had gotten lost in Wanchun Garden. He hesitated before approaching, only to see the little girl throw herself into his arms, crying.

His barren life finally had meaning.

The little girl who came running toward him in the autumn sunlight became the one bright spot in his lonely life.

Many years later, on a day when red candles flickered, Jiang Mei sat upright on the chaise longue.

In the dim lamplight, he undressed with trembling hands.

When he reached the last garment, Jiang Mei blew out the lamp.

"You once asked me if I was afraid. I'll tell you today: I was never afraid, not then, not now, and never will be."

My next novel, "Golden Bowl," will be starting soon. Please add it to your collection!

The battle at Wushan raged fiercely.

Betrayed by his subordinates, Fu Shiwen led the remnants of his troops in a desperate breakout.

The cold armor reflected a chilling glint.

Behind Yinmapo, beneath the faint moonlight, he pulled out a bloodstained portrait.

His deputy general tossed him a wine flask. "Who is she?"

Fu Shiwen threw back his head and took a swig of strong liquor, then laughed boldly.

"If I make it back to the capital alive, I'll take her back."

"Who is she?"

"The Crown Princess."

*

[Blurb 2]

In her previous life, Yun Qingxiu defied the imperial decree and refused to marry the cruel, ruthless Prince of Yan, Fu Shiwen. Clad in red like a flame, she married into the Eastern Palace instead.

She never knew that Fu Shiwen had once happily chosen a wedding dress for her, too.

After the wedding, the Crown Prince devoted himself to the woman he loved. Yun Qingxiu spent half her life alone and died in sorrow.

Meanwhile, the taciturn, grim man never married.

He fought his way into the Eastern Palace through a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, then lifted the Crown Prince's chin with the tip of his sword. "Is this how you treat her?"

When Yun Qingxiu opened her eyes again, she was back on the day she had defied the imperial decree and refused the marriage. Fu Shiwen blocked her in an alley, smiling without warmth. "I advise you to give up. You were granted to me by the Emperor. Even in death, you'll be buried by my side."

Yun Qingxiu said nothing. She walked up to him and kissed him on the lips.

Happy ending + sweet romance.

Theme: Love is a hand that wants to reach out, then pulls back.