Painting the Moon and Wind

[My next novel, Fear of Him, is open for preorders. Please add it to your reading list! I'm currently updating To the Eastern Palace Five Years Later and Reborn for the Male Lead daily. Please support them! Their blurbs are below. There are plenty more completed novels in my author profile!]

Yun Chuniàn was known as a once-in-a-millennium "Painting Immortal." Each of her paintings was worth ten thousand taels of gold.

At eighteen, she married Mu Qiuliang, the illustrious heir to a prince's estate.

Mu Qiuliang was among the very best, whether in looks or ability.

Unfortunately, their marriage had nothing to do with love. It was purely a matter of family interests and the struggle for power.

On their wedding day, Mu Qiuliang hurried back from out of town, performed the wedding rites, and entered the bridal chamber. Half a month later, he hurried away again.

Half a year later, Yun Chuniàn suddenly died. Mu Qiuliang rushed back to the capital, only to be told that Yun Chuniàn had abandoned her husband and reputation, and died for love alongside a folk painter.

Mu Qiuliang tossed and turned, unable to sleep.

He couldn't understand it. If she resented him, hated him, or didn't want to be his wife, she could have spoken to him or asked for a divorce. But instead, she had chosen to die for love while still married to him.

On their wedding night, she had been entangled with him, calling him "dear husband" again and again. But in the blink of an eye, she had made him the greatest laughingstock in the Kingdom of Shao.

In the twenty-ninth year of Shao, Mu Qiuliang died of illness. After being reborn, he returned to the nineteenth year of Shao.

At this time, Yun Chuniàn was only seventeen.

The scenery was lovely that day, with clear streams and green hills, blossoms and lush foliage.

Wearing a white ruqun embroidered with little pink flowers, Yun Chuniàn carried her painting supplies to a small lake. Halfway through her painting, someone called her name.

She turned around.

And saw Mu Qiuliang.

He stood beneath a big tree, dressed in silver-white robes. His demeanor was cool and refined, like snow on a high mountain, and his voice was just as cold and clear.

"Yun Chuniàn, I came to ask you something."

She stood up and gazed at him in a daze, her bright eyes seeming to hold the dew of spring.

"What's so good about that folk painter that you'd die for love with him?"

"I'm your husband."

1. The male lead is reborn. The female lead is not.

2. The female lead did not actually cheat in her previous life.

3. The male lead returns to win his wife back, and takes the opportunity to conquer the realm.

Blurb for Fear of Him:

Yun Zhiyue was the legitimate daughter of a marquis's household, left behind in the outside world. From childhood, she made a living selling fish on the street with an old woman from town.

Yun Zhiyue was soft and delicate as a flower, with a pair of tearful eyes that tugged at the heart. She was withdrawn and timid.

Whenever she went out to set up a stall with the old woman, she would quietly sit in a corner and work, not daring to raise her head.

Day after day, year after year.

One winter, when Yun Zhiyue was fourteen, heavy snow fell and the cold was bitter. Her little hands were red from the frost.

She deftly prepared a large red fish for a customer, then looked up and saw an elegant young gentleman in black standing before her.

His hair was long and black, and his black robes were made of fine, expensive cloth, making him stand out against the vast expanse of snow.

She watched him timidly. After a long moment, she handed him the fish.

He took the fish, removed his fine fox-fur gloves, and held them out to her.

She was too nervous to accept them.

Seeing how frightened she was and that she couldn't even speak, he pressed the gloves into her hands and turned to leave.

Two years later, the country fell into turmoil and war raged without end. Yun Zhiyue and the old woman fled from place to place, but in the end, they were unlucky enough to fall into the hands of rebel soldiers.

Bound hand and foot, she was dragged into a military tent. In the dim light, she saw a familiar figure from behind.

The man walked toward her, step by step. She trembled with fear, crying, "Spare me!"

He came to stand before her and bent down to scrutinize her. In a clear voice, he asked, "Have we met somewhere before?"

Panicked, she shook her head, tears streaming down her face.

Naturally timid, she was so frightened that her lips had turned white, but she still pleaded, "My lord, my granny is in poor health. Could you let her go?"

Seeing her flustered, tear-streaked face, he seemed to see the delicate flower that had been trampled by villains and battered by wind and rain on the night his mother died. His heart softened with pity.

He raised her chin with his dagger and asked in a cold, clear voice, "Are you willing to follow me? I can keep you and your granny alive."

She looked at him and choked out, "I am. I am."

As long as he could spare her and her granny, she was willing to do anything.

She stayed by his side, following his army as it fought its way from the borderlands to the imperial capital.

Only later did she learn that he was Ji Huailing, the eldest son of the man who had seized the throne in a palace coup.

Ji Huailing was heaven's favored son, a man of exceptional talent, aloof, proud, and arrogant. He feared neither heaven nor earth. Following his father, he killed powerful ministers and stirred up the imperial court, becoming the "Living Yama" feared by everyone in the Kingdom of Yu.

One day, in the midst of a heavy snowfall, he returned to the villa covered in wounds, only to find her curled up by the door, waiting for him.

Seeing him covered in blood, she froze in terror.

He staggered over to her, pinched her chin, and asked coldly, "Zhiyue, why is everyone afraid of me? Are you afraid of me, too?"

Looking into his eyes, full of fury and sorrow, she answered in fear and trembling, "...Yes."

"What are you afraid of?"

"Everything."

"Then what if I want you?"

Reading Guide:

1. An aloof, proud, arrogant, and pampered young nobleman goes mad pursuing his wife.

2. They save and heal each other.

3. Both are each other's first and only. Sweet romance.

To the Eastern Palace Five Years Later is currently being updated daily. Blurb:

When apricot blossoms in Jiangnan filled the air, Shen Qingyin loved to climb over the mottled low wall next door and press freshly steamed plum blossom cakes into the herb-scented palm of the boy. "Ayu, Father says he'll teach me to ride a pony after autumn."

The boy looked at her amber eyes, suffused with sunlight. The copper coin pendant tied to his wrist with a red thread dug painfully into his palm.

It was a peace charm the little girl had sincerely prayed for at the Buddhist temple on the rainy night when the old medicine master had picked him up at eight years old.

The winter of the seventeenth year of Ling was bitterly cold.

The Black Armored Guards trampled the snow at the gate as they escorted the prince who had been living among the common people back to the palace.

Shen Qingyin chased the procession down three long alleys, but in the end she couldn't call back the boy who had promised to pick every last peach blossom for her.

It turned out that the orphan taken in by the old medicine master was a royal prince.

Five years after they parted, Shen Qingyin looked at the faded peace charm hanging from the Crown Prince's waist, her heart full of complicated emotions.

The shy boy who used to blush whenever he met someone had become a dignified and noble heir, living high in the Eastern Palace.

He stood there, watching her avert her eyes, his voice deep and clear. "Qingyin, you don't recognize me?"

She lowered her eyes and bowed deeply. Only after a long while did she speak. "Your Highness, I'm afraid you have mistaken me for someone else."

Mistaken her for someone else?

How could that be?

Not long after, she became engaged to the top candidate in the palace examinations.

On a snowy night, the Eastern Palace's hidden guards surrounded the top candidate's residence. Xiao Chengyu dipped his brush in ink and made his vow on the marriage contract: Shen Qingyin, since you've forgotten our childhood promise, I'll make you remember a love that cuts to the bone.

A month after their wedding, they were still sleeping in separate rooms. At last, he couldn't take it anymore. Gazing at her lovely face, he hesitated, then said, "Um... could you let me sleep here tonight?"

[Reading Guide]

1. A possessive Crown Prince passionately pursues his wife.

2. Both are each other's first and only. Sweet romance.

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Theme: Treat each other with sincerity.