The Moon Is Hard to Reach

New Novel: Beauty in a Class of Her Own is now underway. Please add it to your reading list.

"The blurbs for my upcoming novels, The Concubine and Stolen Bride, are below. Please add them to your reading list."

After transmigrating to ancient times, Jiang Mingyue was lucky enough to become the ninth daughter of a wealthy landowner. As an unpetted concubine-born daughter, her life was neither good nor bad. Unfortunately, less than a month later, the rainy season hit Jiangnan. The region fell into turmoil, and countless people were displaced. Hoping to curry favor with the officials who had come to provide disaster relief, the landowner planned to give her to one of them as a concubine. She naturally refused and seized her chance to escape.

After enduring a long period of hardship, she fled to the capital with a group of refugees. To survive, she sold herself as a maid to a household, signing a contract that let her buy her freedom back. Her master was kind and tolerant, and she even received a monthly allowance. Jiang Mingyue was quite content with her life. She planned to save up enough to buy back her freedom once the situation settled down, then find a small home in the capital and put down roots.

But a month later, the young master returned home and took a fancy to her. She refused to become his concubine and braved a torrential downpour to plead with him in person. Unfortunately, the jade-cold man merely looked at her, tossed her a dagger, and said coolly, "If you refuse, then kill yourself."

She clutched the dagger and trembled for a long time, tears streaming down her face. In the end, she could only give in.

She didn't want to die. She still wanted to go home.

Song Huaichuan had always had everything go his way. He was handsome, noble, and had kept himself above reproach for years. When he returned to his household, he met a maid with exquisitely lovely features and bright, alluring eyes, as beautiful as the moon in the sky.

One glance, and his desire spread like wildfire.

He was her master. There was no need for him to deny himself. Since he liked her, he would take her as a concubine.

Much later, he would dream night after night of her resolutely leaping from a cliff, so utterly heartless that she wouldn't even turn to look at him.

She treated his sincerity like dirt and ground his love to dust.

All his pride crumbled to nothing in her hands.

The most pitiful part was that he loved her anyway.

He would never let her go, even if she hated him.

He would risk everything to lock her away in a golden cage.

Jiang Mingyue jumped off the cliff, thinking she might finally make it home. But when she opened her eyes, she saw that same cold, otherworldly face. His hand was around her throat, the corners of his eyes red as he choked out each word through tears: "You truly have no heart."

Only then did she learn, day after day and night after night, that he was a complete madman.

He wouldn't let go. He would never let go.

Even if she died, she would be buried in his tomb.

1. The blurb for my upcoming novel The Concubine is below. Please add it to your reading list.

After transmigrating, Song Ciyue became an orphan in the capital. She was content with her quiet, ordinary life, until she accidentally offended a powerful man who wanted to take her as his concubine. She refused.

To escape him, she set her sights on a scholar named Cui Ning. He was gentle and handsome, and she was pleased with her choice. The two happily set a wedding date.

But on their wedding day, the man who came to the bridal chamber was Pei Huanzhi, the ruthless and powerful vice minister of the Court of Judicial Review. Her husband, Cui Ning, knelt on the floor in tears. "Yue-niang, I've wronged you, but it's so hard for a poor scholar like me to get ahead. Yue-niang, please help me..."

Pei Huanzhi sat in the seat of honor, watching the farce. He set down his teacup and scoffed mockingly. "Song Ciyue, I told you that you couldn't escape. Unfortunately, there's no place for you in my household anymore. You'd be better off as my mistress."

Song Ciyue sank to the floor, dazed and furious, yet helpless. After all her trials, the good man she'd chosen was no better than this.

A month later, the new bride of the Cui family died of a sudden illness. The next day, the vice minister of the Court of Judicial Review, Pei Huanzhi, acquired a beautiful mistress.

To Pei Huanzhi, Song Ciyue was a wild horse. At first, he thought only of how to tame her, but before long, he found himself falling for her.

It was a shame that neither threats and temptations nor his genuine affection could make her accept him. She was truly heartless and resolute.

A thousand mountains of shackles, all to bind her in a tower.

A million chains, all to imprison her in the inner palace.

The thing Song Ciyue regretted most in this life was saving someone on that day in the long street. If she could go back, she would stay far away.

But life has no what-ifs. Pei Huanzhi was a madman, and she would always be his captive.

2. The blurb for my upcoming novel Stolen Bride is below. Please add it to your reading list.

After transmigrating, Song Xiangsi became the legitimate daughter of the Minister of Rites. Her mother was a noble princess, and her father a powerful minister. She lived in luxury and peace, and even her future husband was an exceptional man.

Lu Li was a noble heir, handsome and talented, with the makings of a top scholar. He and Song Xiangsi had grown up together and been engaged since childhood. Their bond was unlike any other.

Lu Li was devoted to her and even promised never to take a concubine after they married. Song Xiangsi was very satisfied with the match.

But three months before the wedding, Northern King Lu Yun was arrested for embezzlement and bribery, then sentenced to death. His entire estate was confiscated. The emperor mercifully spared his family, but Lu Li became the son of a criminal and lost his former status. Countless people came to sneer at him, but he paid them no mind.

What he hadn't expected was that even Song Xiangsi would leave him.

The day he learned their engagement was canceled, Lu Li waited outside the Minister of Rites' residence for three days and three nights. Even torrential rain couldn't drive him away, but Song Xiangsi wouldn't even agree to see him. Their childhood bond dissolved into smoke.

A month later, Song Xiangsi married the third prince, Pei Qing, a gentle man who treated her well. The next day, Lu Li gave up on the civil service examinations and went to the frontier to enlist.

Song Xiangsi loved Lu Li, but she loved wealth and status more. Sixteen years of living in luxury had long since turned her head. She couldn't face hardship together with Lu Li.

Three years later, rebels marched north, and the Pei kingdom fell. The third prince, Pei Qing, died for his country. Under the protection of a band of guards, Song Xiangsi hurried out of the city to flee, only to meet Lu Li at the gates.

Three years had passed, and he was more striking than ever: handsome and cold, mounted on a tall horse, his expression frosty. "Seize her."

After that, Song Xiangsi cried, knelt, and begged, but Lu Li was no longer the boy who had once looked at her as if she were his whole world.

With ruthless methods, he crushed her at every turn. Only by breaking her bones one by one could he vent his hatred.

Theme: To never give in, and to persevere.