A Branch's Invitation

[Coming Soon: Nine-Tailed Fox], a fantasy about spirits and the supernatural. A deceitful princess x a nine-tailed fox demon. Blurb below

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When Yu Xiaozhi was little, a master fortune-teller read her destiny.

"Miss Yu, your overall fortune is excellent, but your luck in the years ahead will be terrible."

Born into a powerful family, surrounded by wealth; in the year she came of age, her elder brother would be promoted, and her father and brother would rise to the highest ranks. Around the age of twenty, she would marry a truly powerful man.

The people of the Yu household gazed at the little girl flying a kite and praised her again and again, but the fortune-teller continued:

"Yet before she marries, she is destined to wander, homeless and adrift."

At seven, she would fall gravely ill, her spirits weighed down by sorrow. At seventeen, her life would hang by a thread, but fortunately she would meet a benefactor and survive. Before her wedding, one final tribulation awaited her: a matter of life and death, and whether she could overcome it would depend entirely on herself.

In short, little heiress Yu had hardly known a single good day since childhood. She was a thoroughly ill-fated girl.

Furious, Yu Xiaozhi chased the fortune-teller for two whole streets.

Later, every prediction came true.

By the age of eighteen, everyone had turned against her, and not one person by her side truly cared for her.

When backed into a corner, how can one survive?

She escaped the abyss, only to step by step fall into the whirlpool of court intrigue. This was a matter of life and death.

When would her destiny begin to turn, and when would it come to an end?

*

Whenever Ming Yu thought of her former name, she couldn't help remembering one person.

He liked to wear purple robes and carry white jade. He was bold and flamboyant.

He would sneak into the Yu residence and take her to watch the fireworks.

He believed in the jade fish and red cord from a childish tale, said to keep its wearer safe.

He did it only so she would believe that there was someone in the world who would always stand behind her.

He would also tell her, in the midst of falling snow: Everything was part of my plan.

Including those things... that nearly cost you your life.

The moment she threw away the red cord, she thought she would probably never see him again for the rest of her life.

At a grand banquet after the rain in Linbei, she attended as the benefactor who had saved the young crown prince. The young prince's most respected uncle arrived late. On the high terrace, dressed in a splendid deep-purple robe, stood the man who had vanished without a trace all those years ago:

Qi Huaiyan.

Everyone there respectfully addressed him as "Young Master Qi."

With starry eyes cold as ice, that man looked past the crowd in their finery and quietly turned his gaze toward the most plainly dressed young woman at the end of the long table... the one called Ming Yu.

In an instant, the court was swept by upheaval.

Through the rainy mist, Ming Yu saw him from afar, his eyes red as he begged her: "Little Fish, you can do whatever you want to me. Kill me, dismember me, and I won't resent you in the slightest. I only ask you... don't throw it away."

The jade fish hanging from the red cord in his hand gleamed painfully bright in the watery light.

|A startled bird rests on frost-bright branches; in winter, it roosts without a bough.|

[Reader's Guide]

* Historical fantasy setting, a mountain of personal inventions, and I'm terrible at naming things. The rather mystical names are whatever lines come to me in dreams.

* Possible content warning (?): the heroine has changed her name.

* Both leads grow over the course of the story. The hero has reasons for everything he does.

* Not traditional political intrigue. The court and the martial world run in parallel, with very little conventional court intrigue. This is an imaginative take on political scheming, with an old-fashioned writing style. If that's not your thing, please don't read (emphasis!!!).

* The two volumes have drastically different styles. The first volume moves slowly and can be read as backstory. I recommend starting from the first volume, as it contains many clues (or so I think).

* If you notice any serious plot holes, feel free to point them out in the comments~

This novel is taking part in the Striving for Excellence writing event. It follows the heroine's journey from a talented young noblewoman who dreams only of becoming a physician to a renowned healer. She uses her medical skills to break through obstacles and grow into a stronger person.

>>> The next book is Nine-Tailed Fox, next door

If you're interested, dear readers, please add it to your collection on my author page (sending hearts)

[Deceitful Princess x Nine-Tailed Fox Demon]

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Yu Changdeng's first half of life was wretched. She wandered the mortal world, so lowly that even the lowliest ghosts would spit at her. Only thanks to a divine master who rescued her did she manage to cling to life for over a decade.

Until she learned who she really was, and until she saved that fox, all Changdeng could think about was returning to the palace and reclaiming everything that should have been hers as the eldest princess.

She also wanted to ask why they had abandoned her when she was still a swaddled infant.

In the thirty-sixth year of Guanglu, she found a white fox on the brink of death.

The first thing the fox did when he woke was proudly waggle the nine tails he'd "accidentally" revealed and say, "Do you like me? If you don't, I'll follow you forever."

So Miss Yu was forced to change her priorities: get rid of that fox as quickly as possible, then storm the palace.

*

In the land of Guanglu, there are three realms in all: humans and demons are equal, with ghosts beneath them.

Among the demon realm, the fox clan reigns supreme.

In the thirty-sixth year, Ling Jiuqi came to the human world for the first time on an unfortunate mission.

He had to take the heart's blood of the supposedly deceased eldest princess.

The truly inexperienced Ling Jiuqi decided to follow the foxes' usual playbook. Step one: make her fall for this fox's good looks.

*

Along the way, the fox who proved so hard to get rid of kept smiling and telling her he had nine tails, with one life in each tail.

Yu Changdeng, who wasn't taken in by his good looks, didn't care much. She thought he was terribly noisy.

Later, she used every means at her disposal, with blood on her hands, to reclaim the moon she had long yearned for, the one that should have belonged to her all along. But she forgot about the fox who had always followed behind her. He had been there all along.

Just as he had said when they first met.

Only this time, he had lost all nine tails.

"Now, Changdeng, do you like me?"

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Reader's Guide:

* Some ensemble cast elements. Not an overpowered heroine fantasy. Both leads grow together. Another oddball pair of strong leads?

* The hero isn't an energetic puppy type. He's quite different from how he first seems, but he's a bit of a handful.

* A love story between a human and a fox that never quite ended (?).

Theme: Cherish life