Ashes of Longing

[Audio drama in development...]

1. Queen regent X Princess Loulan

2. Neither too sweet nor too angsty / Age gap / Magic / Short story

3. Related stories: Ancient era, "Zhen Shen"; Republican era, "Bai Tiandi"; modern era, "Sen Lin Jian Lu"

A friendly reminder: Everyone has their own taste. The writing isn't great, so feel free to stay or leave as you like.

Blurb:

"Summon the lovesickness gu, and burn away the pain of longing." - "Xiang Si Jin"

["A thousand layers of hatred, in the end, cannot rival a night's longing." - Lu Linyu]

["A heart in turmoil can hardly give rise to hate, yet still I say: let longing burn away." - Song Wanci]

["With this book, I bring this chapter to a close. See you again in the Republican era." - Xi Langu]

[Bonus Scene]

"Your Highness is quite something. You left without a word and came back covered in wounds." Song Wanci spoke coldly on the surface, but inside she was so furious she wanted to tear apart the troublesome little rabbit before her right then and there. Keeping her voice and expression indifferent, she continued, "If all the little animals at the Beast Clinic were as disobedient as Your Highness, I'd be so busy I wouldn't even have time to eat, wouldn't I?"

Lu Linyu froze. She stared at the woman before her, who had indeed grown much thinner, and fell silent for a long while. Then she spoke gently: "The situation was urgent. I..."

Before she could finish, a sharp slap sounded. Song Wanci struck her left cheek without the slightest mercy, then calmly slapped her right cheek as well.

"These two slaps are what you owe me." She set the wooden tray on the edge of the bed, then sat down as naturally as if she'd done it countless times before. With practiced ease, she picked up the blue bottle of painkillers, opened it, poured out two small pills with a strong, pungent smell, and held them out. In a flat voice, she said, "If you don't want to die from the pain, take them."

Theme: She can't tell whether the other woman is her wife or her pawn.