The Sun, the Moon, and You

Influenced by his royal uncle, Crown Prince Xie Chong leaves the palace every year to travel, and makes plenty of foxlike hangers-on... ahem, friends! Another year, another reunion. Senior Sister: “I heard the crown prince went to Yongzhou. I want to go.” Down-on-his-luck scholar: “Yongzhou has plenty of talented people. I can go.” Thief: “Rob the rich and help the poor. I’m in.” The three of them look at the God of Wealth, seated to the east. “Want to come with us?” The God of Wealth, the crown prince, who just came from Yongzhou: “...Sure.” The group finally makes it to Yongzhou, only to hear that the crown prince has already returned to the capital. But, as luck would have it: Thief: “I never come back empty-handed, but I’ll make an exception this time.” Down-on-his-luck scholar: “The imperial exams are coming up. Fail as many times as it takes.” Senior Sister: “...I’ll go back and break off an engagement.” The crown prince glances at her. “Until we meet again.” A month later The crown prince is ordered to meet a young general returning from the frontier, only to be told that the general, the chancellor’s legitimate daughter, and the top scorer in the imperial exams are fighting over who gets to pass through the city gate first. Each has their reasons, and none will back down. The crown prince rushes to the gate, where he and the friends he’d parted from not long ago stare at one another in silence. “...” The top scorer who always fails the exams? The young general who never goes home empty-handed? The prince from a fallen family? The chancellor’s daughter who’s penniless? For years, the four of them have managed to put together not a single true identity. They don’t even know who to start questioning. - Later, someone asks how the four first met. Second Miss Chu: “At a full-moon celebration in a little town...” Young General: “We happened to sit at the same table...” Top Scholar: “We fought over the last piece of meat on a platter...” Crown Prince: “They overturned the table and got kicked out.” Everyone stares in disbelief. “The crown prince fought over meat?” Second Miss Chu defends him. “We were the ones who got kicked out and blocked his way. We saw how richly dressed he was, so...” She’d been so captivated by the young nobleman’s looks and money that she couldn’t tear herself away. “Extortion? Robbery?” someone guesses. The top scholar frowns. “How vulgar. We were asking for alms.” The crown prince calmly sips his tea. “They begged a whole banquet out of me. It cost ten taels of silver.” That day, the young lady’s eyes shone brighter than the sun and moon. His heart softened for a moment, and from then on he had a whole string of followers trailing him. Little extra Jiang Chanyi: “Master, I think I’ve fallen for someone.” Master: “?? You’re not supposed to fall for anyone!” Jiang Chanyi: “Why not?” “Here’s the thing: you’re already engaged. Your betrothed is the crown prince. The young prince and your father arranged it, and this engagement won’t be easy to break.” Jiang Chanyi: “...” Even if it’s hard to break, she’s going to break it. A month later Jiang Chanyi watches the one she loves arrive in the Eastern Palace’s uniform to escort her back to the capital, stunned and dazed. Her master was right. Maybe she should leave the engagement alone. A light ensemble cast. Everyone starts with a secret identity. A down-on-his-luck nobleman from a fallen family, with no power or influence but plenty of money (the easygoing, refined heir to the throne of a kingdom) vs. a greedy, flirtatious senior sister, left alone in a declining sect (the upright, chivalrous legitimate daughter of the chancellor). The protagonists are the young crown prince from My Husband’s Story and the legitimate daughter of the Chancellor Chu household. Characters from My Husband’s Story will appear, but this novel can be read on its own. Next novel: Wedding Snatch Zhu Yu’s parents died tragically when she was a child. For years, she kept her head down, behaving with gentle restraint, but on the day her older cousin was to be married, she did something shocking. She stole the wedding. Red silk filled the sky, and the hall was packed with guests. Zhu Yu stood alone in the middle of it all, dressed in wedding robes. “I’m the one who’s related to the Shi family by marriage. I’m the bride today.” The hall fell completely silent. Zhu Yu fearlessly met her grandmother’s furious gaze. But was she really fearless? Not quite. Her legs were shaking. She was expected to give up her marriage, watch her elder sister marry in a lavish procession, then become a second wife to someone else. That just wasn’t right. She’d seen the young master of the Mu family, and she liked his face. She’d given way for seventeen years. She wouldn’t give up this man! - Mu Su is hauled out of bed after a night of drinking to get married. He yawns repeatedly, and his patience wears thin when the bride is late. Just then, his trusted aide reports, “Young master, someone’s stealing the wedding.” Mu Su immediately turns his horse around. “Let them have her.” Aide: “...It’s Second Miss Zhu.” Mu Su freezes. They’re stealing him? “Second Miss Zhu is the one related to the Shi family by marriage. She said either she gets married today, or no one does.” The sleepiness fades from Mu Su’s face, replaced by a flicker of interest. This young lady sure has a fiery personality. “Tell the Zhu family that the Mu family is marrying a young lady from the Shi family. Today, either I marry Second Miss Zhu, or no one gets married!” He’s never liked soft-spoken women. Having one cowardly father in the family is quite enough. A few days later Mu Su and Zhu Yu stare at each other. “You dared to steal a wedding, but you don’t dare argue?” Zhu Yu gazes at his outrageously handsome face and, after a long pause, manages to say, “...Maybe I could try to learn?” She spent seventeen years learning to be gentle and virtuous, only to find those traits useless in her husband’s family. There’s no mother-in-law to keep her in line, her husband is healthy, and his family is well-off. She likes this marriage. If all she needs to do is argue, she’ll learn. Mu Su: “...” Zhu Yu: She showed a little backbone once, so her husband thought she was fiery. Now she’s trying to act fiery, but arguing is hard. It’s much easier to just hit him. Mu Su: He thought he’d married a fiery wife, but she’s a coward. What can he do? Protect her, of course. But how does his cowardly wife manage to cry and hit people at the same time? Please add my upcoming novel, A Stroke of Fortune, to your collection! On the day of Fu Xing’s wedding, Feng Zheng massacres the palace to avenge her mother’s clan, killing while clutching the imperial family register. As luck would have it, she’s marrying the second prince, Feng Yu. The good news: the ceremony hasn’t been completed, so she isn’t on the register yet. The bad news: Feng Yu uses her to shield himself from Feng Zheng’s arrow. As she’s dying, she meets Feng Zheng’s cold, bloodthirsty eyes and remembers a long-forgotten moment from the past. Back then, she was the young lady everyone adored. In full view of the crowd, she received a bouquet of wintersweet blossoms, casually dropped it on the ground, and scolded him. “You have no manners.” The Fu family’s daughters were sought after by everyone. She wanted to marry a brilliant young nobleman. Feng Zheng, with his crippled leg, was delusional to think he had a chance. If she’d known she would die by his arrow... She should have thrown those wintersweet blossoms right in his face! Then she’s reborn at the moment after dropping the wintersweet blossoms and humiliating Feng Zheng. “My lady, what’s wrong?” Fu Xing sniffs, shivering with cold as she stares at the blossoms on the ground. “I want to bring them back to life.” - Feng Zheng looks coldly at the bouquet of wintersweet blossoms made of red paper in the young lady’s hands. “What does this mean?” Fu Xing apologizes. “I’m sorry. This is to make it up to you.” Feng Zheng doesn’t accept it, so the young lady widens her almond-shaped eyes at him. “You should treasure the fact that I’ve given you a bouquet of wintersweet.” Feng Zheng: “...” He’s never met such a proud young lady. Even her apology sounds like a favor. After Fu Xing leaves, a servant asks Feng Zheng what to do with the wintersweet. Feng Zheng digs out a jade vase from storage and grits his teeth. “Put it on display!” - Later, Fu Xing finds out that Feng Zheng wasn’t the one who gave her the wintersweet that day. But... She looks at the man she’s just lured into her bed, unable to find the words. “...” Then why did he take the bait? Please add The Eastern Palace’s Laid-Back Days to your collection! The infamous demoness, whose martial arts were second to none, is dead. The victorious heroes celebrate after surrounding and killing her, never suspecting that she has opened her eyes in the Eastern Palace. Yun Xuan, who faked her death to escape, wakes up to find she’s been brought back to the Eastern Palace. The young crown prince demands she repay her debt for saving her life by keeping him company as he eats, drinks, and has fun. She’s taken with the young crown prince’s looks, so she agrees. She sets herself a goal: sleep with him before she leaves. Just as she’s about to succeed, chaos engulfs the realm. The crown prince is forced to take up the imperial seal, and the neighboring kingdom’s jade seal ends up in Yun Xuan’s hands. The young crown prince almost falls over in anger. “...Have you no shame? A princess of another kingdom has been eating and drinking for free in my Eastern Palace?” Yun Xuan feels completely wronged. “...I was pretending to be dead and trying to go back, but you butted in and took me away.” They stare at each other in silence. Ji Yu leans closer and coaxes her. “Why don’t we go deal with the troublemakers, then come back and have fun?” Princess Yun Xuan proudly makes her demands. “When I get back, I’m still eating and drinking on your tab.” And then sleeping with you. Ji Yu nods without suspicion. “Sure. Let’s do that.” A demoness with a few scruples vs. a desireless, laid-back crown prince. The story of two lazy fish who only want to take it easy, but end up forced to charge ahead and become rulers of the world. Theme: Strive to improve and keep pushing forward.