**
For generations, the Lan family had made a living carving jade.
When Xichun was fifteen, she nervously stepped into the Renzhi Hall with a set of tools she had used for years on her back.
She wasn't actually the one meant to inherit the Lan family's ancestral craft.
She was so frightened that she couldn't sleep, afraid that if she failed to carve the jade statue properly, the emperor would punish her.
But Liu, the eunuch in charge of selecting artisans, told her not to worry.
Because her face was exactly like that of the late Empress Rouzhen.
**
Empress Rouzhen had been the beloved of the current emperor, Xue Zhen.
Rumor had it that the emperor often woke in terror from his dreams, and could only sleep peacefully when the empress stood guard beside his bed with a sword in hand.
Ever since the empress passed away, the emperor had been plagued by nightmares every night.
When he awoke from them, he would still be calling out her maiden name.
To help the emperor sleep, his ministers tried everything they could.
They found young women who resembled Empress Rouzhen and sent them all into the harem.
The emperor was moody and unpredictable, frightening the girls until they lost all color in their faces. One after another, they were dismissed.
Xichun trembled. He was a tyrant!
Liu told her not to be afraid. The emperor was harsh with the others because they didn't look enough like the empress.
"You look exactly like Empress Rouzhen, as if you were carved from the same mold. You're sure to rise to great heights."
But no one knew that Xue Zhen hated anyone who deliberately imitated Empress Rouzhen.
The more they resembled her, the more he detested them.
**
Xue Zhen defied his ministers' objections and insisted on mourning Empress Rouzhen for three years.
When the mourning period ended, he ordered the palace eunuchs to search the whole country for master artisans who could carve a jade statue of the empress and pray for her blessings.
Unable to sleep through the long night, he wandered unknowingly into Renzhi Hall.
The candlelight flickered inside, illuminating Xichun's tearful eyes.
For a moment, Xue Zhen thought he was seeing someone from the past. "Why are you crying?"
Tears and snot smeared Xichun's face. "I miss my parents."
"Sir, do you know when the emperor will let me go home?"
Looking at the tearful young girl, he suddenly flew into a rage.
"The emperor ordered me to supervise the work. If you can't carve this jade statue properly, you'll never leave the imperial city!"
Reader's guide:
1. An irritable, sleepless emperor x a timid, weepy jade artisan. Both are sexually inexperienced; happy ending.
2. The heroine is the reincarnation of Empress Rouzhen, and her memories will gradually return.
3. Both leads grow over the course of the story. Their flaws early on will change later.
4. The story will give a reasonable explanation for why the hero is sexually inexperienced.
5. The hero never treats the heroine as a substitute and never considers looking for one.
6. A small part of the character inspiration comes from Emperor Xianzong of Ming and Consort Wan.
Theme: The world celebrates courage, but I love your heart that dares to weep.
