Two Lifetimes in the Mortal World

Huhu was once a flame. After receiving the Emperor's blessing and enlightenment, she became a little lamp fairy.

The Emperor had poor eyesight, but loved to read, so Huhu had no choice but to hold the lamp for him. When the candle flame stretched and the lamplight swayed, Huhu would take her scissors and snip off a piece of the wick.

The lamp was her own transformed body, and the wick she cut was her own. So every time she held the lamp, her hair grew a little shorter.

"Your Majesty, stop reading..."

"If you keep reading... I'll run out of hair..."

Huhu lay on the desk and watched as the Emperor set down the book in his hands.

"Your hair will grow back."

The Emperor patted her head and chuckled softly.

*

Three hundred years ago, Emperor Wenying enlightened a little lamp fairy.

To repay him, the little lamp fairy had diligently trimmed his lamp for three hundred years.

But lately, she'd kept nodding off and wasn't paying much attention to the quality of her work. Emperor Wenying had no choice but to wake her and ask what was wrong.

A hint of panic crossed her face. She respectfully begged for forgiveness, saying that something had indeed been troubling her lately.

Wenying asked what was troubling her.

She said that the stories she read were all about love in the mortal world, and she was troubled because she didn't know what love was.

Emperor Wenying was silent for a long while, then said, "Then I shall let you reincarnate as a human and go to the mortal realm to learn. How does that sound?"

"Really, Your Majesty?" Huhu's eyes lit up.

"Mm. Go, and come back soon." Emperor Wenying turned around and picked up his book.

"But... if I'm not here, who will hold the lamp for you, Your Majesty?" Huhu frowned, looking worried.

"Go ahead. Siming will hold the lamp for me," he said indifferently.

*

After Huhu descended to the mortal realm, Emperor Wenying summoned Siming and handed him a lock of his own hair.

"Your Majesty, this is..."

"This is the debt I owe her."

"Turn this lock of my hair into a human form and send it to the mortal realm to keep her company."

Emperor Wenying looked at the little lamp that had just been lit on the desk, his eyes as deep and still as water.

1. The blurb covers the backstory. The main text focuses on the male and female leads' lives in the mortal realm.

2. Two stories: (1) A disfigured orphan who performs in a brothel x a warm, healing mute male prostitute.

(2) A former dynasty's princess burdened by a blood feud x a prince of another surname with a calculating mind.

3. A short novel, about 80,000 characters, complete.

Theme: Human nature is precious, even a small flame can be guarded.