A Gift of Three Snowy Mounds (Both Reborn)

Jiang Wunyao was a noblewoman of the capital, beautiful as a brilliant lotus, yet her clear green eyes made people consider her ill-omened.

Her parents rejected her, her friends betrayed her, and the world despised her. After enduring countless hardships, she had long since grown cold and unfeeling.

There was only one exception.

Three times in this life, she had fallen into the jaws of death. Each time, that person brushed the snow from her brow and tucked a plum blossom into her hair.

Later, she was shocked to hear of his death.

Her young lord, who had always been compassionate and taken on the burdens of others, had frozen to death amid the blizzards of the human heart.

-

Reborn into a new life, Jiang Wunyao was once again rescued from a pile of corpses by Shen Zhuojin and taken to the Shen residence.

After she recovered, he lowered his eyes and asked whether she wanted to leave or stay.

Jiang Wunyao trembled as she answered, but her resolve was firm:

Stay.

This time, she would brush the snow from his shoulders.

She thought of herself as nothing but a lonely orphan, yet in secret she forged a gleaming blade. She was willing to scheme against him and make him suspect her, all to destroy his long-laid plan to sacrifice himself for the Way.

No matter how the storm raged beyond the residence, how rumors spread, how her schemes were exposed, or how a blade pressed against her snow-white throat, she only smiled. "Didn't you know, my lord? You've always protected the people. I protect you."

-

At the height of his good fortune, Shen Zhuojin suddenly developed a headache disorder. The day it flared up violently, a heavy snowfall was falling, and he found a girl among a pile of corpses.

After that, on the nights when his headaches struck and left him blind, he would smell the faint scent of plum blossoms. A pair of delicate hands would smooth the furrow from his brow, easing his pain almost at once.

She never gave him her name or spoke, as if she were a goddess from the highest heavens, moved by a moment of compassion to look down on him with pity. Just before his sight returned, she would drift away.

So he kept his goddess on earth a little longer.

But with the world darkened by storms and the country in turmoil, the chasm between their convictions became impossible to cross, and they went their separate ways.

He thought they had parted for good. Who could have expected that Shen Zhuojin would slowly begin to remember everything from his previous life?

When they met again, she was about to marry the ruler of the country.

Frost and snow clung to her eyelashes. Her gaze was pale and distant as she turned to leave.

But he suddenly seized her wrist, his voice low and hoarse. "I love you, A Yao. Don't marry him."

"...I've remembered everything. The person who gathered my bones after my death was you."

Jiang Wunyao turned her bright eyes toward him and smiled. "My lord, did you know that I kissed you, too? Thousands of times."

/

"My lord is far-sighted and compassionate toward all living beings. Even when imprisoned and trapped in darkness, he still brings peace to this troubled world. Though I am cold-hearted and hard-faced, I am willing to use my tiny strength to help, like an ant trying to move a mountain."

-He gave me three handfuls of snow. I repaid him with the love of two lifetimes.

P.S.:

1. One-on-one, slow burn, happy ending, very loose historical setting.

2. Both are reborn, but they gradually remember their past lives.

Posted 23/12/06

Theme: "The mountain is like jade, and jade is like you. We gaze at each other and smile with warmth.", "Geng Louzi"