He Came from the Sea

The next novel is planned to be The Remarkable Talents of Lady Xu, featuring a deranged emperor vs. a drama queen court lady, with intense push and pull and a domineering romance. The blurb has changed, so please add it to your favorites, everyone, orz.

Blurb:

"A very dog-like bandit chief vs. a wealthy young lady doctor who knows how to train dogs"

Lan Ting was born into the Hedong Pei clan. Her beauty outshone all others in Chang'an, and from childhood she was betrothed to a young lord of the powerful Jiangxia Li clan. She was the very picture of a winner, with no one able to match her in fame or fortune.

Who could have guessed that the Li family would fall from power overnight, and that her disgracefully wayward fiancé would run off to become a bandit?

Not only did he ruin her reputation, but the Crown Prince also took a fancy to her and wanted her as a concubine in the Eastern Palace.

On the day the betrothal gifts were carried into her home, Lan Ting went to the head of her family and asked to be sent into exile in Lingnan.

*

Three months later, a beautiful lady with snow-white skin and flower-like features had joined the bandit stronghold in Lingnan as its chief's wife.

The chief, who usually looked at everyone as if they owed him three hundred taels of silver, began smiling all the time. His once spotless courtyard suddenly filled with clothes, jewelry, medicinal herbs, and medical books.

In the courtyard, a tall, handsome young lord followed close behind the graceful young lady.

"The table is too ugly. Replace it."

"All right."

"The bed is too hard. Replace it."

"All right."

"You're too boorish. Replace yourself, too."

The man, who ruled the bandit stronghold with an iron fist but now obeyed her in everything, smiled and leaned against her. "My lady, I'm afraid that one won't do."

*

Li Pei once thought that for the rest of his life, he would be stuck on the waters of Baishui in Qinzhou, an outlaw despised by everyone.

Until the day rain poured down in torrents, and someone came through the night beneath an umbrella. From afar, she bowed to him. "I believe in you, my lord. Please lend me your strength."

From then on, whether climbing mountains or crossing seas, amid deadly dangers, he stood by her side.

"The day I was exiled, I knew that in this life, I could answer for the people and for my country, but the one I had wronged was the young lady in Chang'an to whom I had been betrothed since childhood. Life at home was not easy for her, yet she still grew into the kindest and gentlest woman in the world. I thought I could only carry this debt with me to the underworld and repay it in the next life. I never imagined Heaven would be so kind to me, bringing her back to me after all our twists and turns."

"Even the duckweed on the vast sea may meet again one day." (A Warning to the World, Volume 11)

(Also known as He Runs, She Chases, and He Can't Get Away)

1. One-on-one romance, both leads' first and only partners, and the male lead is virtuous and devoted.

2. The setting blends different eras. Please don't nitpick the historical details.

3. Many details are made up. The medical content is based on references but is not professional advice. Criticism and corrections are welcome, but please don't take it too seriously. Just enjoy the story.

4. The story draws on Lingnan geography and local folklore, including its system of deities. If anything is offensive, please point it out politely and I'll adjust or remove it right away.

5. No fantasy or xianxia elements. The leads are ordinary people.

Also, the character art on the cover comes from an art asset library and was not commissioned exclusively, so there's a chance other covers may look similar, orz.

The Remarkable Talents of Lady Xu:

"A seemingly frail but actually dramatic court lady vs. a rough, lowborn, mad-dog emperor" with intense push and pull and a cunning, domineering romance.

Blurb:

Everyone in the palace says that although Lady Xu, who serves at the emperor's side, always looks sickly, she went from being treated with cold disdain to becoming the emperor's favorite. She is the only one who can handle the new emperor, who often flies into a rage and is wildly unpredictable.

Some curious young palace attendants have tried asking her for advice, but never gotten an answer.

Advice? Xu Lanyao only smiles without a word. Inside, she grits her teeth. She should have been allowed to return home with the former dynasty's palace women, but she accidentally discovered Zhao Xian's secret, so he kept her by his side. Her clan also assigned her the task of currying favor with the new emperor.

Xu Lanyao swore she would escape the palace as soon as possible.

That night, after coaxing the furious Zhao Xian to sleep, Xu Lanyao, still glistening with sweat, opened the letter from home that a young attendant had brought her.

Lanyao, my dear niece, I hear His Majesty has taken a great liking to you. Keep up the good work and do not disappoint his favor. The prosperity of the Xu clan rests in your hands.

Her hand trembled. She was about to quietly burn the letter when a large hand snatched it away from the candle flame.

The man, who had gotten up without her noticing, played with the edge of her sleeve. His deep black eyes swept over her lovely face, his voice edged with danger:

"Didn't Lady Xu say that the Xu clan had persecuted you for years, that you'd never join the ranks of the great families in this life, and that you'd always stand by My side?"

Xu Lanyao looked at his devastatingly handsome face and gritted her teeth. She took his hand and placed it against her chest.

"My heart is aching again. It must be because their attempt to drive a wedge between us has made me so angry."

*

From the day Zhao Xian began his rebellion, he knew that even if the man on the throne was debauched and depraved, those people would still rather support an emperor of noble birth than him.

Even after he came to rule the world, people still looked down on him for his lowly origins.

Only that delicate young lady, who had once seemed so frail that a gust of wind might blow her over, would carefully correct every mistake in his writing, organize books whose titles he couldn't even read, and sternly tell the tutor who was stringing him along that there was no distinction between students.

At a grand banquet for his ministers, a self-proclaimed upright scholar, drunk, lamented, "When there are no heroes in this age, even a petty man can make a name for himself."

At the critical moment, only Xu Lanyao held down the hand reaching for his sword and firmly told him, "I understand your ambitions, Ninth Lord."

With those words to sustain him, he struggled against the ministers, endured his most isolated and helpless days, and vowed to lay all the world's most precious things at his lady's feet.

Instead, he received news that she had deceived him and become engaged to someone else.

That night, a fire broke out in the side hall where the court lady lived.

*

On the day of the Xu and Xie families' betrothal ceremony, Xu Lanyao dressed in her finest and looked radiant, celebrating her successful escape from the palace.

Just as the ceremony ended, Emperor Zhao Xian barged into the Xie residence with a sword and smashed everything to pieces. Ignoring the people kneeling all around him, he smiled at Xu Lanyao with that devastatingly handsome face.

"Madam Xie, there has been a fire in the palace, and no one is available. Once your ceremony is over, you will return with Me."

1. Zhao Xian (the character xian is pronounced with the fourth tone).

2. One-on-one romance, happy ending, and both leads are pure in body and heart.

3. A sweet romance. You won't regret reading it.

Theme: Keep compassion in your heart even when faced with adversity.