An Auspicious Hour Today

[The next book, "My Nemesis Lost His Memory and Called Me His Wife," has its blurb at the very end]

Blurb for this book ↓

[Two Powerful Leads, Serious Drama] An unconventional take on the occult: divination, fortune-telling, battlefield formations, and reading the heavens to guide an army.

#She calculated every secret of heaven, asking only for lasting peace for the people#

*

Xu Xiaoqu joined the Daoist sect at six. At sixteen, she descended the mountain with her master to travel the world. At eighteen, she returned to the capital and was appointed general. At twenty-six, she died an unjust death atop the city walls.

Before she set out to war, her master gave her a talisman bearing a prophecy: "Born at an auspicious hour, but ask not when you will return."

Ask not when she would return? Only when Xu Xiaoqu died did she realize how laughable those words were.

The flames of war swept over the city walls, and she was reborn.

She simply had no idea why she had appeared on the winding mountain road of Jiuqu, at the border of Great Qi, reborn right beneath the hooves of Yue Chengqiu, Great Qi's famed general.

As the warhorse reared its hooves high, blotting out the sky, only five words filled her mind: "My life is over again."

*

In his previous life, Yue Chengqiu marched three thousand li north. He made a blood sacrifice on the battlefield, only to end up with all his family dead and a mountain of guilt on his shoulders.

In this life, he is still young when he meets a charlatan on the road through Jiuqu Mountain, a woman who claims to be the foremost disciple of Wen Shen'an.

She says her name is Xu Xiaoqu, and that her master sent her to lend him a hand.

When strange signs arise on the northern frontier, she casts divinations to question the battle and calculate the secrets of heaven, taking the arts of the mystic sect with her as she strides across the battlefield.

The clash of copper coins becomes the bell that guides him. Amid the blazing beacons of war, she stains her robes red with blood as she cuts down tigers and wolves, becoming the light in his world and the cinnabar mark in his heart.

"Xu Xiaoqu, what is it you really want?"

That day, her eyes reflected the vast world, but she gave no answer.

There is no solution to the coming chaos. The workings of heaven and fate cannot be fully calculated.

Call her a charlatan or a general, it makes no difference. A hundred years from now, the historians will record all the heroes of the realm. You and I, and all of them, will be written into the annals.

…Plot blurb…

It is said that great shamans live in this world, withdrawing in times of peace and answering the call of fate in times of chaos. They choose a worthy ruler and support a wise sovereign, bringing peace to the land. Xu Xiaoqu becomes a disciple of Wen Shen'an, a Daoist master of supernatural arts, and a descendant of the great shamans.

In her previous life, she returned to the capital at eighteen to answer the emperor's summons and lead troops. At twenty-six, she died an unjust death atop the city walls. Now reborn into a world once more beset by chaos, she sees the great shamans' descendants emerge again to choose a ruler.

Several paths lie before her, but she chooses the most perilous one, a road whose end she cannot see.

With chaos on the horizon, she has inherited the Way of Heaven and glimpsed the mysteries of yin and yang. She must once more charge into battle with her spear.

She gathers a few close friends and befriends heroes throughout the realm, asking only to end the chaos and silence the fires of war, bringing peace to the people.

*

Xu Xiaoqu divines the secrets of heaven and wields her spear across the battlefield.

Her first wish is for peace throughout the land; her second, for a safe and happy life.

[Not fantasy!!! There is only fortune-telling and divination!!!]

[Reading Guide]

· A sweet romance, with the tender feelings of youth

· The heroine comes first in everything, but this is also an ensemble story

· The heroine is at the peak of martial prowess; two generals, two powerful leads, serious drama

· The heroine speaks her mind, and all decisions are hers. No frustrating situations and no retreading old paths

· Slow burn. The romance is more prominent early on and less so later. The main focus is military strategy and leading armies, including but not limited to fortune-telling and divination

· The setting is entirely fictional, so no research is needed. The divination symbols draw on references, while all other formations mentioned are ones I created based on the Nine Palaces, Eight Trigrams, and similar concepts

· Calculating the heavens on the march, a red robe and golden armor, living free and easy

[Blurb archived on 2024/07/24] Revised 2024.11.05

Here is the divider for my next historical romance, currently available for preorder. Please add it to your favorites, mwah mwah mwah

Historical romance coming next: "My Nemesis Lost His Memory and Called Me His Wife"

Fu Lanshi found a person covered in blood outside her family estate. After cleaning his face, she gave him one more stab for good measure.

Then she dumped him outside the local government office.

The next morning, she rode past the office in her carriage, took off her cloak and wrapped it around him, then beat the grievance drum on his behalf. Before long, a crowd of onlookers had gathered.

Everyone who saw it said that Second Miss Fu was a righteous person, willing to seek justice and track down a murderer for a complete stranger.

Fu Lanshi had achieved her aim and tried to leave, but she couldn't pull her leg away.

She looked down, the corner of her mouth twitching.

Yu Ye, the bloodied and coldly unsentimental Great General, was clutching her leg and looking up at her. Without changing his expression, he let a few tears fall. "Wife."

Fu Lanshi: "..."

She should have stabbed him in the heart yesterday and put an end to it once and for all.

No, wait, who is his wife???

*

Yu Ye was ambushed during a mission and gravely wounded. He remembered only his name and Fu Lanshi, the second daughter of the Marquis of Wuyang.

He remembered that they had performed their wedding rites and that she had called him her husband, so she must be his wife.

His wife was beautiful and kind. When she saw he was hurt, she braved the spring chill and the grime, taking off her own cloak to wrap around him. She even beat the grievance drum for him with tears in her eyes.

But why wouldn't his wife acknowledge him anymore?

After much thought, General Yu finally figured out the reason.

He wore red one day and changed into a purple robe the next, going to great lengths just to get Second Miss Fu to call him her husband again.

One day, Yu Ye returned to his own residence after work, and someone asked, "Lord Yu, aren't you going to see Miss Fu today?"

Yu Ye: "?"

Why would he go see the person he had fought tooth and nail against?

The person continued, "My lord goes to visit Miss Fu every day after work..." And shamelessly calls her his wife, too.

Yu Ye: "???"

How does he not know about this???

"Bonus Scene"

Fu Lanshi gets hold of something she can use against Yu Ye, something that makes him come whenever she calls.

Later, Yu Ye really does come whenever she calls, and brings a marriage contract with him.

Fu Lanshi: "?"

Yu Ye hands her the contract, his face expressionless. "I... have... come... to... propose."

Here is the divider for my ongoing xianxia novel. If you like it, take a look

Ongoing xianxia novel "I Accidentally Became Bound to My Nemesis in Life and Death" has over 100,000 words. It's ready to read!!!

Question: What do you do if you accidentally become bound to your nemesis in life and death, and can feel everything they feel?

Answer: Start by staying alive.

The immortal general Feng Xingzhou guarded the immortal realm for a thousand years and fought the Demon Venerable Lou Changyuan to a standstill, only to be shot through the dantian by someone she trusted most. Her senior brother was ruthless and powerful, taking them both down with a single arrow.

When she opened her eyes again, she was alive, but had fallen into an unknown place. Her dantian was ruined, her primordial spirit injured, and her life-bound spirit pearl stolen. Worse, she had accidentally become linked to Lou Changyuan, sharing his pain.

When he was injured, she was injured. When he hurt, she hurt. When he died, she...

The two stared at each other in silence. Feng Xingzhou was the first to speak. "How about we stop fighting for now?"

Lou Changyuan silently nodded.

*

Lou Changyuan was born a demon and rose to the rank of Demon Venerable in a mere two thousand years.

In his three thousand years of life, the only problem he had ever encountered was Feng Xingzhou, the immortal general who guarded the immortal realm.

Whenever he attacked the immortal realm, he and Feng Xingzhou fought each other to a standstill. Then, after they both fell into the Xuanling Realm, he unexpectedly began sharing pain with her, and she pushed and dragged him through endless agony.

He figured he must really owe her.

When she fought, he hurt. When she was injured, he hurt.

Sooner or later, he would break this damned link that made them share pain!

But later, when he uncontrollably clung to her and joined their souls, the pleasure she sent him was strange and exhilarating.

He whispered, almost pleading, "Can we please not break the link?"

Thesis: What we call our country and our world is a land at peace and a people living in happiness.