The Hidden Map of the Sea

There will be several major twists later on, so feel free to bookmark this and take your time reading it!

Also, my other suspenseful, brain-teasing upcoming novel, The Bathing Palace Is a Cage, is introduced at the very bottom. If you enjoy suspense and detective stories, come check it out!

Novel blurb:

Although Cai Niang belonged to a despised people who had lived on the water for generations, she and her father and younger brother supported one another. Life was hard, but they managed to get by.

But ever since the night she happened to witness an assassination in the middle of the river and saved Fu Weiming, everything changed.

Her father died.

She was abducted and nearly had her face peeled off.

Luckily, there was Fu Weiming. He was willing to pretend to be her husband so they could face everything together.

Then one day, he suddenly confronted her with red-rimmed eyes and a sword in hand, trembling as he demanded to know whether she had deceived him.

Then, Fu Weiming, I will truly bring you into my world. See what I see, and feel what I feel.

Now, do you still think I deceived you?

One day, after Cai Niang and Fu Weiming had just finished bickering, she stood up in a huff, ready to leave. But the covered boat suddenly rocked under the force of the current. She lost her balance and fell straight into Fu Weiming's arms.

Fu Weiming was caught off guard too, and instinctively reached out to catch her.

Just then, the curtain of the covered boat was suddenly pulled aside.

Physician Ji hummed a little tune as he stooped and strode inside. Looking up, he saw chaos all around, with bowls and chopsticks scattered across the floor.

In one corner of the low table, Fu Weiming and Cai Niang were locked in an awkward embrace. Both had flushed cheeks and were drenched in sweat, staring at him in identical terror.

Physician Ji froze.

“You two...”

“Aren't you supposed to be a fake married couple?”

P.S.:

1. The Dan people are a despised people who have lived on the water for generations, making their living by fishing, transporting goods, and harvesting pearls.

2. The story focuses on suspenseful investigations, with the daily life of a fake married couple as a secondary element. The plot is full of twists and turns, with one reversal after another.

3. The leads are mutually devoted, with a rather long period of romantic tension. One-on-one romance, happy ending.

Below is the blurb for my other suspenseful, brain-teasing upcoming novel, The Bathing Palace Is a Cage. If you're interested, feel free to bookmark it!

Shen Qingqing has few other talents, but her light-footedness is exceptional. When times get tough, she occasionally turns to a little roof-climbing thievery.

One day, she went to scrounge around a country villa. When she accidentally made a noise, she had to flee in a panic to escape pursuit and ended up scrambling onto the roof of a palace.

Unfortunately, luck was not on her side. The grand palace looked magnificent, but its roof had fallen into disrepair. Her foot came down on a patch of broken tiles, and with a splash, she fell through.

But the pain she expected never came. She landed in a pool of hot water.

It turned out to be a bath palace.

Shen Qingqing splashed around and scrambled to her feet. She wiped the water from her face, only to find herself looking at the stunning face of a man. He was completely naked, glaring at her with a dark expression.

Shen Qingqing was about to explain when a sudden pain struck her chest. She looked down and saw that, somehow, the stunning man had plunged a cold sword into her heart...

When she woke again, she was back on the palace roof, with one foot coming down on that same patch of broken tiles. The ground gave way beneath her, and she plunged downward.

The same stunning man. The same cold sword piercing her chest. Once again, she was back on the roof...

*

After being reborn again and again, Shen Qingqing finally managed to bring the bathing Crown Prince, Di Mochen, into the same repeating cycle.

It turned out that a large group of black-clad assassins had tried to kill the Crown Prince that day. After countless trials and tribulations, the two finally joined forces to evade the assassination and uncover the mastermind behind it.

The mystery was solved. They thought the cycle would finally end, but after they fell into a deep sleep, they opened their eyes the next morning to find Di Mochen back in the bath.

A woman dressed in black from head to toe fell from the sky.

Yet this woman did not recognize him.

Di Mochen was utterly bewildered. He teamed up with Shen Qingqing to kill the villain all over again. That night, he closed his eyes anxiously, and the next morning, sure enough, he was back in the bath.

After many cycles, Shen Qingqing smiled and said, “Could it be that I actually died the first time I fell in? And everything that happened afterward was just to help you get through this crisis?”

Di Mochen looked at her anxiously. “What do you mean?”

The corners of Shen Qingqing's mouth lifted, but her eyes were filled with sorrow. “I mean, when you wake up tomorrow, just like the first time we met, you should kill me.”

P.S.: Happy ending, absolutely!

Theme: May peace and prosperity reign throughout the land.