Southward Sleep

[Listen to me, don't read this yet! Give me a little more time, okay? I'm working on it!]

Su Yuyan was bold and carefree, the proudest young princess in Nandu.

That year, a cold-faced guard was always at her side.

Wherever she was, all she had to do was call, "Suian."

He would always appear beside her and protect her.

Together, they punished the wicked and drove away countless villains on behalf of Nandu's people.

Laughter filled Nandu day after day. Commoners and noble children could mingle and play together.

Su Yuyan never imagined that one day, corpses would litter Nandu's streets, blood would run everywhere, and the city would fall silent.

Least of all could she imagine that the man who had always followed and protected her was the one who slaughtered her entire family.

Only when she heard the black-clad men address him as Sixth Highness did she awaken as if from a dream. So from the very beginning, he had been using her, all to destroy her family.

From then on, there was no more innocent, kind young princess. There was only A Ling, the star courtesan of the pleasure house.

*

Suian's original name was Cheng Yan.

When Cheng Yan was six, he watched with his own eyes as his father and elder brother were consumed by fire. He and his mother were then imprisoned in the palace for ten years.

He was forced to become the sickly, hidden Sixth Prince, Chu Yan.

Later, to save his mother, he went to Nandu disguised as Su Yuyan's guard, Suian. His mission was to wipe out her entire clan, but as he watched the young princess, bold on the surface yet kind beneath it, his heart softened.

Later still, as Cheng Yan watched that purple figure and her radiant smile, an idea took root in his heart, a bold idea, one that would mean death for him and his mother if anyone discovered it.

He wanted to protect her smile and guard Nandu alongside her.

But he still failed to protect her. He could only watch as her family was massacred, while she vanished without a trace, her fate unknown.

No one knew how Cheng Yan endured those six years after Su Yuyan disappeared.

*

When they met again, it was amid wind and snow. They gazed at each other from afar, and with just one glance Cheng Yan recognized Su Yuyan, though she had changed her appearance. He ran toward her as if mad and held her tightly, feeling the warmth of her body. His eyes reddened, his voice trembled violently, and he kept repeating, "The princess has returned."

Su Yuyan stared at him coldly, her eyes filled with overwhelming hatred. Her voice was colder still, cutting to the bone. "I'm afraid you've mistaken me for someone else, sir."

*

A broken relationship mended, love and hatred intertwined, and ultimately a happy ending.

Proud, bold young princess x handsome, tragic male lead with three identities

Reading Guide:

1. Both leads are each other's only partners, and the story has a happy ending.

2. An alternate-history setting. Nandu is pronounced Du.

3. The heroine's family was not destroyed by the hero. There is a misunderstanding, so please finish reading before you criticize him.

[Contest Entry Reason]: The heroine should have been able to live a carefree life, proud and bold. But her family was massacred. Even in dire circumstances, she refused to give up. Instead, she faced every challenge, grew stronger, sought revenge, changed her circumstances, and ultimately fulfilled her wishes, joining the hero to move forward together.

Yan Tanyan's Blurb:

When Xie Tanyou was thirteen, her maternal grandfather's family perished in a fire. That same year, her birth mother died of depression, and she was sent to a country estate.

Three years later, an imperial decree arranging her marriage brought her back to the family home.

Knowing that her loved ones' deaths were not as simple as they seemed, she wanted to uncover the truth. But with a vicious stepmother in her way, she had to tread carefully at home.

She had planned to use her fiance's influence to escape her predicament, only to catch her gentle younger sister in bed with him.

Xie Tanyou trembled with fury. She killed the maid who had bullied her with a single knife, then escaped from the woodshed and made straight for Prince Yan's residence.

She thought that if there was only one person in the world who would save her, it had to be Yan Heng.

She thought so only because Yan Heng had once saved her. It was both ridiculous and helpless.

Rumor had it that Yan Heng killed without batting an eye, cold and cruel.

Xie Tanyou was afraid, too, but she still wanted to take the gamble. She had to stay alive to avenge her family.

It was a day of heavy snowfall.

Xie Tanyou stood in the wind and snow, looking wretched. When she saw Yan Heng, tears fell from her eyes. Her body swayed as if she might break at any moment. Her voice trembled as she asked, "Could you help me?"

Yan Heng's brows moved slightly. "With what?"

"I'll be your wife. Will you help me kill someone?"

*

Yan Heng had been reborn.

Thinking back on his previous life, he hated himself for being so foolish. Xie Tanyou had played him for a fool and used him as a stepping stone to power.

Reborn into this life, he vowed to hold all political power in his own hands, and make Xie Tanyou kneel and beg for mercy, wishing she were dead.

Yet on the very first day after his rebirth, when he learned that her stepmother had sent her away, Yan Heng knelt all night outside Qinglong Temple, begging Master Kongjing, who could see through past and present lives, to protect Xie Tanyou for three years.

When she returned home, he learned there was danger along her route and rushed to rescue her without stopping. Looking at the wretched, pitiful young woman, Yan Heng frowned. Fine. This prince is kindhearted. I'll help her one last time.

Today, seeing that she seemed even more wretched than before, her clear eyes brimming with tears, Yan Heng clenched his fists and then relaxed them. At last, he let out a long sigh.

Fine. I'll consider this repayment for her saving my life ten years ago. I'll help her one last time.

Yan Heng, later on:

"Fine. This prince really is kindhearted. One last time."

"Fine, truly the last time."

"All right, all right. This prince is simply a good man. I'll be merciful and help her once more."

The shadow guard who had served him the longest watched a crow fly overhead and said weakly, "Your Highness, you said that last time, too."

*

Later, when an enemy nation invaded, Yan Heng led his troops into battle, only to be betrayed by his own people and trapped in a valley.

On the fifth day, reinforcements arrived. The first thing he saw was a woman riding at the head of the group. Her eyes were cold and resolute, and she wielded a red-tasseled spear with consummate skill, aiming straight for the enemy general's head.

Yan Heng stared, transfixed.

Those eyes, that flowing figure, he knew them all too well.

It was Xie Tanyou.

It was Xie Tanyou from his previous life, who could have been a free eagle soaring through the sky, but whose wings had been broken and who had been caged in the imperial palace.

Reading Guide:

1. The hero is reborn. The heroine later recalls her past life, and there were misunderstandings between them.

2. Both leads are each other's only partners, and the story has a happy ending.

3. An alternate-history setting, with a sweet romance and a cheeky, flirtatious hero.

Theme: Live well