Snow on Cang Mountain

[I’m considering whether this novel needs revisions. I recommend waiting until I’ve finished marking the revised version before starting.]

[For readers following along, I’ll send a red envelope as compensation for every chapter after June 6, when the next chapter is posted.]

* A gentle, saintly boy who becomes a possessive, lovesick man x a silly, dependable master’s wife who’s always ready to run away

*

Since transmigrating, Jiang Zhaoxue had enjoyed smooth sailing.

Then she met Shen Yuqing and suffered the full pain of love.

She always thought it was a brain disorder brought on by love, until one day she dreamed about a male-oriented, face-slapping power-fantasy novel.

The male lead, Pei Zichen, was once the first disciple of an immortal, and a paragon of his sect.

When the junior sister fell for him, her master, who loved her, grew jealous. Then, when Pei Zichen was framed by his fellow disciples, the master abused his authority, destroyed Pei Zichen’s meridians, and threw him off a cliff.

With the junior sister by his side, Pei Zichen cultivated his way back to the immortal mountain, growing stronger with every step.

He killed his master, wiped out the sect, married the junior sister, and took down everyone who had ever bullied him.

Among those he took down were his master, his master’s wife, and their entire family.

The cannon-fodder master’s wife was her.

The dream had been so terrifying that when Jiang Zhaoxue woke, she hurriedly made plans to descend the mountain and find the male lead, ready to kill him and take his treasures so she could defy fate.

Unfortunately, she failed to take his treasures, so she had no choice but to set up a formation on him, using his fortune and life to secure herself a chance at survival.

To change her fate, she coaxed and lured him along. When everyone turned against him, she jumped off the cliff with him and carried him through the snow and wind.

As they went, she cursed him and plotted how she would kill him once she got what she wanted.

Pei Zichen knew nothing of her plans.

He only remembered how fierce the wind had been the day they fell from the cliff. He couldn’t make out what she was saying. Covered in blood and leaning against her shoulder, he looked at the woman whose eyes had always been fixed on his master and called to her in bewilderment:

“Master’s wife?”

That was what he had called her when he first met her at the age of twelve, after climbing three thousand heavenly steps to reach her.

It was also the title he would hate most for the rest of his life.

[Reader’s tips]

1. The male lead has a character-growth arc. He won’t be a puppy boy forever, and he’ll have moments when he takes charge. The emotional balance is guaranteed to favor him loving her more than she loves him, but not a power imbalance in which she always holds the upper hand. If you want the heroine to be in absolute control, this isn’t for you.

2. The heroine isn’t a particularly good person. Given the choice, she won’t do evil, but when she has to choose between hurting herself and hurting someone else, she chooses to hurt the other person. I’ve never written her as someone who thinks she’s a good person. She does good when she’s able to and has a choice. Don’t mistake her for some perfect, selfless hero. She’s just an ordinary, selfish person.

3. Don’t bring too many moral expectations into this story. The moment you click on a master’s wife x disciple romance, you should be prepared for morally questionable behavior.

4. Lots of rivalry between men, lots of love triangles, and the heroine is a little bit of a magnet for admirers.

5. The heroine genuinely loved the second male lead for two hundred years, and her emotions were amplified, leading her to do some outrageous things. Her natural personality wouldn’t make her abandon reason for love, which is why her behavior changes drastically once she comes to her senses. But that doesn’t mean she was completely manipulated or felt nothing. She did have feelings, just not many.

6. The payoffs are clichéd, and the romance is melodramatic.

7. Updates are irregular and may not be daily. Even if you notice that I seem to post at a particular time, that doesn’t mean I promise to post at that time every day.

Theme: Never give up!