The Branches of Yantan

[The story has been revised, and pirated editions differ greatly from the official version. Please support the official release.]

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

She was not brought back until three years later.

Hoping to live out her days in peace, she instead found herself under the thumb of a vicious stepmother, treading on eggshells in the household. Then, by chance, she learned the true cause of her loved ones' deaths.

To avenge them, she had no choice but to summon her courage and seduce the most powerful minister in the capital.

Yan Heng was cold and ruthless, with a cruel streak.

Xie Tanyou was afraid, too, but she still wanted to take a chance. Only by staying alive could she avenge her loved ones.

It was a day of heavy snowfall.

Xie Tanyou stood miserably in the storm. The moment she saw Yan Heng, tears spilled down her cheeks. Her body swayed as if she might shatter at any moment.

Her voice trembled. "Could you help me?"

Yan Heng's brow twitched. "With what?"

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

*

Yan Heng had been reborn.

Thinking back on his past life, he loathed himself for being such a fool, letting Xie Tanyou deceive him and use him as a stepping stone to power.

Reborn, he vowed to seize all political power for himself 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 from the household, 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 to the household, he learned there was danger on the road and rushed off without a moment's delay to save her.

Today, seeing her looking even more miserable than last time, her clear eyes full of tears, Yan Heng clenched his fists, then loosened them, and finally let out a long sigh.

Fine. He would consider it repayment for the life-saving favor she had done him ten years ago, and help her one last time.

Yan Heng, later on:

"Fine, one last time."

"Fine, really, one last time."

"All right, all right, I'll be merciful and help her just once more."

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

*

Later, the enemy nation invaded. Yan Heng led the army into battle, only to be betrayed by his own men and trapped in a valley.

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

Yan Heng stared, transfixed.

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

It was Xie Tanyou.

The Xie Tanyou from his past life, who could have been an eagle soaring freely through the sky, but had her wings broken and was confined to the imperial palace.

Reader's Guide:

1. The male lead is reborn. The female lead will regain her memories of her past life later on, and there was a misunderstanding in that life.

2. Both leads are each other's first and only, happy ending, fictional historical setting.

Content Warning: The past and present are interwoven. If that's not for you, please don't read. Readers who have followed the story from the start all say the male lead is hopelessly lovestruck, so please don't read if you dislike that. The female lead grows over time. This is not a pure wish-fulfillment story; romance takes center stage, with the plot in a supporting role. [The female lead learns martial arts later on, gets involved in court investigations, and rushes to the battlefield to save one person from a thousand miles away.]

Read if you enjoy it. If you don't, you can leave. Don't make things difficult for yourself or others. Let's respect one another, thank you.

Story blurb: Reborn, She Marries Her Ex-Husband's Archenemy

[Launching in September]

Wen Xi was the most bold and carefree woman in Bianjing. She had loved one man since childhood, and both their families approved, so they became engaged.

On her wedding day, her heart full of joy, she was met instead by ranks of soldiers. Her fiance led them with a sword in hand, slaughtering everyone in the household.

*

When Wen Xi opened her eyes again, she found herself back on the eve of her wedding.

To protect everyone in her household, she had no choice but to seek out the man she had once hurt.

Wei Xun, the emperor's younger brother, was said to be bloodthirsty and to never go near women.

Yet no one knew that when he was sixteen, he had climbed over the wall of the Wen residence and earnestly said to Wen Xi, "Stop liking him. Come with me."

Wen Xi rejected him outright and said many cruel things.

After that, Wei Xun never appeared before her again.

*

That night.

Wen Xi stopped Wei Xun's carriage as he was returning home.

She called to him, "A Xun."

No one in all of Bianjing knew that they had once helped each other through the loneliest three years of their lives.

"Do you still stand by what you said back then?"

Wei Xun let out a scornful laugh. "I don't remember."

But Wen Xi pressed him, step by step. "You said that if one day I had nowhere to go and no one to rely on, you would be my support."

Wei Xun stared at the young woman beneath the moonlight. His mind filled with memories of the girl who had cried easily and been hard to soothe during those three years, and of himself, quick-tempered but rarely gentle with anyone else.

They had promised to stay by each other's side forever, but the girl had deceived him.

When they met again, two years had passed, and she was engaged to someone else.

Watching her smile at another man, her eyes crinkling with joy, Wei Xun's gaze turned dark. He promptly had the man thrown into prison.

With the eyesore of a man out of the way, Wei Xun climbed over the wall of the Wen residence, wearing the same robe he had worn when they first met. But later, he could no longer remember what the weather had been like that day. All he remembered was the disgust in Wen Xi's voice.

Now that they had met again, Wen Xi had come to ask for his help. Wei Xun found it laughable. His voice was cold, yet edged with vengeful satisfaction. "Fine. Then marry me."

Theme: When facing hardship, meet it head-on.