Shattered Jade

A puppet emperor and the daughter of a powerful minister

In the eleventh year of Yongxi, Prince Zhao Qi Ying was elevated to the throne by Xue Boyan, the Grand Marshal who held power over the court, and became a puppet in his hands.

That summer, Xue Boyan forced Qi Ying to make his niece, Xue Zhirou, empress.

Everyone knew this marriage was just a bargaining chip for the Grand Marshal to control the new emperor.

Qi Ying had thought so, too.

But in the early spring of the twelfth year of Yongxi,

on a night when spring snow fell like shavings and the wind swept across the mountains,

the young empress rode a thousand li from Chang'an,

and walked toward him over a stretch of mud.

Her hands were a little cold, but her smile was bright.

*

“What my ancestors left me was a frail, broken body, a realm beset by internal and external troubles, and an empire teetering in the storm. What Zhirou gave me was a love that was both despairing and tender.”

*

Reader's Guide:

1. One-on-one romance, happy ending, marriage first and love later

2. The male lead was blind at first, but has recovered

3. The male lead is a puppet emperor who rises again

4. A romance-focused, healing, sweet story

5. Comments on specific passages are enabled. Add this story to your favorites and subscribe to it, and you’ll be able to post passage comments.

*

Another completed story in the same category by the author: "Bonebreaker"

Next upcoming story:

"The Green-Locked Gate"

In the bitter winter of the twenty-second year of Taiping, a man who looked like a scholar recuperated in A Ying’s home. He was pale and aloof, and seldom spoke.

A Ying didn’t know his name. All she remembered were his extraordinarily skillful hands, which could paint meticulous ink-wash pictures.

Before he left, he painted A Ying a picture as a thank-you gift.

Then they parted, lost in the sea of humanity.

Years later, A Ying learned that the man who had recuperated in her home for several months was named He Wanzhou.

By then, He Wanzhou had become a terrifying imperial guard of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, a man who made people tremble at the sound of his name. Clad in an official black hat, a belt with phoenix ornaments, and a silk robe embroidered with a python, he seemed like a demon or a god. Countless innocent souls had died by his blade, and everyone wanted him dead.

But A Ying thought instead of the spring night in the twenty-third year of Taiping, just before He Wanzhou recovered and left.

The sky was clear, the moon pale, and the rain fell in slanting sheets.

He Wanzhou sat alone beneath the corridor, tossing his paintbrushes one by one into a brazier until they burned to ash.

With his back to her, he spoke in a soft, gentle voice. “A Ying, from today on, I may have to become a bad person.”

Moral: Love can heal a life.