A Vicious Dog Behind the Palace Walls

[Proud, Brooding, Scheming Emperor vs. Quiet but Fierce Dog Nanny and Childhood Friend: A Story of Love and Hate, Raising a Dog, and Saving Each Other Along the Way]

Taking a deceased consort out of the palace was an obsession Xia Ling could never let go of.

Before she died, the most important person in Xia Ling's life held her hand and pleaded in broken phrases, "Please, take me home, won't you? I want so badly to leave this place..."

But that person had another identity: she was the emperor's birth mother.

For the sake of this obsession, Xia Ling suffered setbacks and beatings. In a fit of anger, the young emperor, who had only just taken control of the empire, banished her to a detached palace. There, she guarded a library few people ever visited, living a hard and lonely life for three whole years.

She had almost forgotten that she and the young emperor had once been childhood friends. For a long time, they had been each other's only family.

Xia Ling thought she would never have anything more to do with Ning Che in this lifetime. Who could have guessed that a torrential rain would bring him right to her door?

But this time, Xia Ling suddenly realized that he seemed to be nothing more than a lonely big puppy, too.

*

Ning Che took eighteen years to rise from the Cold Palace to the throne.

Following the example of his ancestor, who started out with nothing but a bowl, Ning Che had a bit of a workaholic streak.

Yet late at night, when all was quiet, the emperor who ruled the world would often think of the girl who used to sit beside him under the eaves.

There were only two things he regretted in his life. First, he hadn't made it back to see his mother one last time before she died of illness. Second, he had tried to force Xia Ling to become his consort.

Much later, Ning Che finally understood that even women of the inner palace deserved lives of their own. The only person trapped within these palace walls had been him.

So be it. He would be a lonely ruler who devoted himself to governing.

And so, a great spectacle appeared in the Jingxi era: the emperor treated the former court as his harem, spending all night talking with either the Grand Secretariat or the Six Ministries.

Until one day, he turned around and saw the girl standing behind him with a bright smile. She said, "A Che, I'm back."

**

Ning Che: I have a Spring Festival holiday duty roster here. My beloved ministers, please take a look.

Ministers: Miss Xia, save us!

Xia Ling: Don't panic. I'll handle this.

Ning Che: The Ministry of Rites, work through the night and draft an edict making her empress!

Ministry of Rites: ???

Ministries of Personnel, Revenue, War, Justice, and Works: Hee hee, I'm clocking out first.

[Reading Guide]

1. The official ranks and dynasty are fictional, with Ming-style institutions. This is not actual history, so don't overanalyze it.

2. The leads really do raise a dog. A genuinely vicious one.

3. The early story focuses more on romance, with lots of everyday moments. Later, it shifts toward an ensemble cast, with a big CP stew.

4. The male lead isn't a jerk. He's incredibly, incredibly good to the female lead. Both leads are sexually inexperienced.

5. Friendly comments are welcome. The author will grow stronger, too!

[Pre-release: The Muralist of Mogaoku. Everyone is welcome to add it to your collection~]

Chang'an Dancer x Cave Muralist

In the fourteenth year of the Xuanyuan era, An Mingyuan, military governor of Yingyang, rose in rebellion. His army swept through Luoyang and bore down on Chang'an.

The city's prosperity was shattered. Yuzhen, a dancer who had made her living in Chang'an since childhood, was forced to flee. She followed a column of refugees all the way back to her hometown of Shazhou.

Amid endless yellow sands, she met a cave muralist with a disabled right arm who could paint only with his left hand. The painter wore a mask at all times and never showed his true face. The few strands of graying hair that slipped from beneath his hood seemed at odds with his young, clear voice.

Beneath plain clothes and delicate hands, his brush brought a dazzling age of prosperity to life.

Yuzhen gazed in wonder at the murals inside the cave. "Is this Chang'an you've painted?"

The painter replied, "Chang'an will never die, and neither will our country."

Hundreds and thousands of years later, when this cave was rediscovered, everyone was dazzled by the exquisite murals within. But no one knew that the painter, who had left no name behind, was the young general accused in the history books of betraying his country.

As he removed his mask, the painter whispered to Yuzhen, "My birth name is Zhao Chen, and my courtesy name is Linfeng. I am from Chang'an, a son of Han. I can say with a clear conscience that I have never surrendered to Tibet."

Yuzhen looked up at him as if gazing upon a god.

She was an ember left behind by a prosperous age, illuminating a drifting speck of dust in a time of chaos.

Though the land was shattered and he was adrift like duckweed, there were still passionate young souls willing to devote their lives to protecting it.

Clouds drift nine thousand miles, then return on the wind to Chang'an.

Theme: Live your life in your own way