Spring Returns

Weibo: @Fuyou Feixu

A heroine who only wants to survive in troubled times vs. male leads who are dogs in every sense of the word

Song Chushi was renowned in Jiankang as a virtuous wife. Not only had she personally arranged several concubines for her husband, she also kept the entire Cui household in perfect order. No one in Jiankang failed to praise her as the finest wife in the city. People even said, "If you marry, marry a daughter of the Song family."

But nobody knew that everything she did was for herself. She managed the household to set aside money that could save her life, arranged concubines for her husband because she found him filthy, and gave porridge to refugees only to earn a good reputation.

Later, the Southern Xia dynasty fell, and a new emperor took the throne.

On the day he purged the great clans, Cui Chen offered his own wife to the new emperor in front of everyone, in order to save the Cui family.

At the time, the three-foot blade in the new emperor's hand was still dripping blood. He only glanced at Song Chushi before pulling the beauty into his arms and carrying her to his bedchamber in full view of everyone.

*

Born in troubled times, Song Chushi had spent sixteen years pretending to be a proper young lady of a noble family.

Then, on the day she learned she was to marry into the Cui family, she saw her betrothed stumble drunkenly out of the pleasure quarter with a beautiful woman in his arms.

Unwilling to accept her fate and be the one who suffered, she rescued a handsome man. Later, when she learned of his unfortunate background, she asked her brother to find him work guarding the city gates. She also secretly spent one night of pleasure with him.

When the time came, Song Chushi ruthlessly cast him aside and returned to the life laid out for her.

On the day she married Cui Chen, refugees rioted outside Jiankang. News arrived in the city that all the soldiers guarding the gates had been killed, and no bodies remained.

That night, as the red wedding candles burned down, she sat dazed for a long time. Afterward, she never mentioned the matter again.

Years passed, and the Cui family offered her to the new emperor as a gift. She accepted willingly to stay alive, but when she entered the wedding tent, she met a pair of familiar eyes.

The new emperor's gaze was sinister. "Miss Song, long time no see."

"When you sent people to kill me and silence me, did you ever imagine this day would come?"

Song Chushi: ?

When had she sent anyone to silence him?

-

Pei Shu was one of Song Chushi's dogs.

Pei Shu knew it, but Song Chushi didn't.

[There is a reason the heroine can't recognize the male lead's voice.]

Please note!!!

1. Both the male and female leads are a little dark.

2. This is a fictional historical setting, with extensive invented details. No character is perfect!!!

3. No personal attacks. If you want to drop the story, you don't need to tell me.

[Blurb screenshot uploaded on 2023.05.18]

Upcoming novel: Vast and Boundless

In the twenty-eighth year of Chengping, Shen Jishi was defeated in battle and died.

When the news reached Chang'an, everyone remarked on how lucky Qiao Wanzhi was. She had broken off her engagement before he went to war, so she didn't have to become a widow in the Shen family.

But no one knew that a dark fragrance rose every night in the Qiao family's back courtyard, as she waited for the Ghost Festival in the seventh month, hoping her beloved would remember his way back.

-

The thing Qiao Wanzhi regretted most was having a terrible argument with Shen Jishi and breaking off their engagement before he went to war. After he died, she couldn't even enter his mourning hall.

Later, she heard that in the South Sea there was an incense called Qingnu. Burning it could make you see someone from your past.

Qiao Wanzhi lit the incense, but amid the billowing fragrance, it seemed she had summoned the wrong ghost...

-

On the first Ghost Festival after Shen Jishi's death, the only things keeping Qiao Wanzhi company were the jade pendant he had given her and a resentful ghost who looked eight-tenths like him and could not be sent away.

The resentful ghost urged her to let go. Qiao Wanzhi burned letter after letter, her sleeves damp with tears as the flames flickered.

The fragrance of Qingnu incense lingered on her for years. From then on, Qiao Wanzhi became an ordinary person who could see ghosts. To exorcise the resentful ghost and see Shen Jishi again, she began traveling with the ghost, helping the dead resolve their grievances and let go of their obsessions, diligently earning merit.

At last, on the day she could send the resentful ghost away, Qiao Wanzhi happened to see the more than eighty letters she had burned for Shen Jishi.

The ghost had taken the sealing wax from them and strung it into a heart.

Qiao Wanzhi: …

Shen Jishi: My dear, listen to me explain.

-

At seventeen, Shen Jishi was made a marquis. He wanted only two things: peace throughout the realm, and to return home in glory and marry his beloved.

Sadly, he saw neither a peaceful world nor his beloved again in life.

On the day of the Ghost Festival, his lonely soul drifted across the battlefield, only to be forcibly pulled back to his hometown in Chang'an.

Amid the billowing fragrance, he concealed his face and smiled. "Miss, you've mistaken me for someone else."

[Childhood sweethearts]

Reader's guide:

1. The romance is the main focus, with lots of invented details.

2. The heroine didn't mistake him. He really is the male lead!

3. There are lots of nonhuman beings, as well as storylines for the supporting characters!

4. The heroine can see ghosts, so there will be episodic stories, though they won't take up much of the book.

[Blurb written on 2023.09.08]

Upcoming novel: I'd Rather Break Than Yield

As the daughter of the Grand Princess, Li Shan was born into privilege and adored by all.

At sixteen, her mother arranged her marriage to her cousin, Prince Su. Her whole family helped him overthrow the Crown Prince and ascend the throne. But once he had power in his hands, he turned on her: he stripped her family of its influence, deposed her as empress, divorced her, and imprisoned her in the palace.

She refused to accept it, but all she got was the accusation that she was spoiled by favor and held the imperial authority in contempt.

Later, she learned that the new empress had been chosen: the emperor's childhood sweetheart, the daughter of the prime minister.

She heard that the new empress had a remarkable younger brother. At sixteen, he went to war, rose to high office, and used his military accomplishments to help his elder sister become empress.

The emperor valued him and intended to make him a princess's consort.

Li Shan sneered. On the day the new empress was installed, she climbed the palace wall and gazed from afar at the new empress's younger brother, smiling seductively.

Later, in the cold palace, they spent night after night entwined as storms raged outside.

Huo Yi pressed his thin lips to her ear and asked what she wanted.

She arched her brows and pressed his hand to her belly, her eyes full of icy determination. "I want to become Empress Dowager."

-

Huo Yi spent sixteen years believing himself a bastard, then learned overnight that he was the prime minister's legitimate son, lost long ago. He was hurriedly brought back to Chang'an, and the next day was sent to the battlefield. Later, when he heard that the empress had been deposed, he used his military achievements to help his elder sister take her place.

On the day of the new empress's installation, he was made a high-ranking official as her brother. But when he looked up, he saw the woman who had occupied his thoughts for ten years.

Only then did he learn that the noblewoman he had yearned for and held dear in his heart for ten years had already been crushed and broken by someone else.

From then on, a consuming obsession took root in his heart, and he became the willing servant of one woman's desires.

Note:

1. A subject steals the emperor's wife.

2. The heroine is not a strong female lead, and she is no delicate flower.

[Blurb written on 2024.01.25]

Theme: Those who never forget will surely remember