Status as of May 1, 2026: I don't have much time to write, but I'm still slowly building up a backlog of chapters!
Blurb updated May 1, 2026:
Important points first!
1. There is very little romance. Friendship and alliances are the main focus, but there are romantic elements and some romantic scenes, so I've classified it as romance. Readers looking for lots of interaction between the male and female leads, please think carefully before reading!
2. The pacing is very slow, because I like planting clues in the small details of everyday life.
Shen Hongyin's story:
When she was ten, Shen Hongyin returned to the capital from a small county with her parents and elder brother, and became the princess's companion.
She gradually adjusts to her new life and befriends the princess, a commandery princess, and several young noblewomen. A few years pass in a flash. Though she experiences misunderstandings and gossip from outsiders, occasional surprises, and arguments with her family, these are all just little incidents in an otherwise ordinary life. All in all, her life is as peaceful and comfortable as that of any other young lady from a good family.
That is how others see Shen Hongyin. Even her mother believes it.
But Shen Hongyin herself thinks her life is not as peaceful as it appears.
Each of her classmates has her own personality. The strangest is the commandery princess who lives in the neighboring princely residence. She seems distant and aloof, yet is always asking unexpected questions and doing unexpected things. Shen Hongyin is incredibly curious about her and has been investigating her in secret.
Besides, there seems to be more to the "accidents" Shen Hongyin has encountered. She had planned to rely on the authorities to investigate, and was even questioned at the yamen, but the results of the investigation vanished without a trace, until Shen Hongyin herself began to notice a few clues
As the days pass, her classmates and childhood friends marry one by one. Shen Hongyin also begins to guess where her own marriage will lead. She goes from "I'll leave it to my parents" to a faint flutter in her heart, and then...
The jianghu storyline: Blurb to be updated.
Notes:
1. The story mainly follows two threads, Shen Hongyin's story and the jianghu storyline, and may use a POV perspective.
2. There is a couple (BG), but romance is not the main plot.
3. The plot develops slowly, and the content leans toward everyday life (with subtle hints woven through it). This is not a wish-fulfillment story. There is no System, and it does not focus on palace or household intrigue.
4. An ensemble cast, with no saintly characters. Everyone has their own experiences and aims. Some are extreme, some self-serving, some have incomplete information. No one is perfect.
5. Both the modern and ancient settings are fictional versions of the East. Official titles, books, forms of address, idioms, and other details are drawn from different dynasties, and the map is fictional. Readers looking for historical accuracy, please don't read.
This is just a rough outline. I'm not a professional writer, just a 24/7 office worker. I might post this next year or the year after. Any similarities are purely coincidental. If you don't like it, feel free to drop it at any time; you don't need to tell me.
Theme: Surviving and resisting in an unfamiliar ancient setting.
