The Orange's Golden Seal

★ The title is taken from "A Chance Encounter on the Road," by Yao Mian, a Song dynasty poet: "Oranges pile up like golden seals, maples wear brocade robes."

★ The blurb still needs revision and is not the final version.

Faithful to each other, happy ending, a little regret and groveling, with an amnesia trope

Shen Wanfeng is as beautiful as an immortal, the perfect example of a noble young lady from an eminent family. She and the new emperor are a match made in heaven, and soon she will enter the imperial palace as empress, becoming the mother of all under heaven.

But one day, after waking from a dream, she is overheard repeatedly calling the name of the regent who holds power over the court: the emperor's own uncle.

He is the uncle of her future husband, and the man she loved but had forgotten long ago.

That night, as snow and wind raged, the young woman rushed to the regent's manor without even putting on her fur coat. She knocked at the gate and cried out his courtesy name, "Yuchen, please open the door. I don't want to marry him. I won't marry him..."

Inside, the window stood wide open. Snow clung to the man's temples, and his pale lips trembled. "The coronation ceremony in two months will go ahead as planned."

*

Xie Yousi is a man of both virtue and talent. Ever since the emperor ascended the throne, he has devoted himself to helping him govern, without a hint of disloyalty. The court officials all regard him as a pillar of the Great Liang.

Though he suppressed his fervent love for years and repeatedly rebuffed Shen Wanfeng's advances, when he watched the empress dowager take a liking to her and betroth her to his nephew, he appeared calm and congratulated them again and again. But his hand clenched into a fist inside his sleeve, the veins standing out.

Rumors that Shen Wanfeng had refused the marriage spread through the capital. The gossip grew so wild that people came to believe she was shamelessly trying to seduce her future husband's uncle.

The next time Xie Yousi saw Shen Wanfeng, she was kneeling in the ancestral hall as punishment, nearly unconscious.

He approached and lifted her face. Tears streamed down her cheeks, and she looked despondent. "What are you doing here? Have you come to laugh at me because you think I can't become empress?"

The hand that had wielded a sword for years curled slightly. Behind him, tens of thousands of soldiers waited for a single order. "No. If you want it, the throne of empress is yours and yours alone."

*

Reading guide:

1. An imaginary setting with a mishmash of historical eras and many original details. Please don't argue over them.

2. There's not much groveling; the focus is on sweet romance.

3. I hope you'll leave lots of comments.

4. The blurb has been screenshotted. Please don't steal the premise!

Theme: Love is a hand that wants to let go and hold on at the same time.