The Mountain Spirit’s Revenge

While Shan Ling was recovering at the manor, a young gentleman moved in next door.

Shan Ling had heard of him: Li Junran, the young General Li. He had single-handedly held Beiding Pass, but lost the use of both legs and all hope of a promising future.

Li Junran was handsome and graceful, like jade in the mountains and snow in the forest. Shan Ling felt sorry for him, bringing him a bowl of fruit one day and a jar of her clan's rice wine the next.

Li Junran returned her kindness by teaching her the elegant speech of the Central Plains and telling her about the customs of Jiangnan. He even promised to love her for a lifetime.

When their love was at its strongest, Shan Ling was ready to share with Li Junran half of the spirit medicine she'd prepared to help her escape her clan.

Then, stumbling, she was pushed into the flames. She saw Li Junran standing tall, his legs perfectly sound, his face cold as snow, the spirit medicine in his hand.

Shan Ling suddenly understood. He had planned it all along, playing the wounded man in need of sympathy. That was exactly what he wanted from her.

She had only been imagining things.

*

After returning to the capital, Li Junran presented the border clan's spirit medicine to the emperor.

His great achievements brought him power and influence, but in the middle of the night, he often dreamed of the girl with smiling eyes, sitting in a tree and offering him fruit.

Then a sea of flames swallowed her.

When the young son of the Left Chancellor got engaged, the capital's young nobles all attended, understanding one another without a word. At the banquet, people chatted and laughed, praising the new bride from the south for her elegant speech and saying the newlyweds were deeply in love and would have a wonderful life together.

The Second Young Master Li stopped in his tracks. His hand clenched inside the sleeve embroidered with intertwined branches as he met Shan Ling's gaze from across the room, her body wrapped in bridal red.

He looked into a pair of eyes filled with fire, yet cold as snow.

*

From an illegitimate son in Jiangnan to the Left Chancellor's "youngest son," then to the master of the imperial palace, Shi Linyu had never had much ambition.

That changed when he left behind Jiangnan's endless drizzle and met the young girl who had just moved in next door.

He knew she had come from the mountains farther south and was heading to the capital to take revenge.

Then he would return to the capital too, back to that cesspool, and back to all its splendor and luxury.

He had to be by her side.

● A groveling romance where the male lead begs for forgiveness, but never wins her back

● A second male lead takes the female lead. Her pairing is with Shi Linyu.

Theme: Return kindness with kindness, and treat good people well