Moonlight Shines on the Swan's Shadow

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[Fictional setting, both leads are virgins, one-on-one romance, happy ending]

"Have you heard? The daughter of that short-lived eldest son of the Earl of Loyalty and Valor has been brought back."

"The young lady who was dumped on a mountain? Her uncle will probably swallow her whole."

Luo Huyue said nothing. Wearing a blank expression, she smashed the Earl's residence to pieces. It was her first day back home.

Half a year later, she personally sent her uncle's entire family to prison. Her terrified uncle and aunt asked who she really was. She smiled sweetly.

"I'm Li Huyue."

-

Chang Ye was sent to Yanzhou by imperial order. After traveling through range upon range of mountains, he recognized her at a glance through the dense foliage.

She was the woman he had cherished in his heart for years. He knew Luo Huyue had several identities, yet still wanted to hear her tell him herself.

Luo Huyue simply walked past her fiancé in silence. She thought to herself that this former savior of hers should not have been sent to get caught up in this mess.

She did not know that Chang Ye had been determined to come. He had come to Yanzhou to make their pretense real.

On the last snowfall of the seventeenth year of Hexi, Chang Ye returned to the birthplace he had never visited.

It was also Luo Huyue's hometown, which she had been away from for thirteen years. On New Year's Eve, fresh snow fell on her, a daughter of this old home.

Chang Ye and Luo Huyue spent the New Year hiding in Guliang County, Yanzhou. In all that vast world, they had only each other to keep warm.

-

When the nobles of the capital heard that Chang Ye had a fiancée who had grown up on a mountain and knew nothing of proper etiquette, they laughed at him behind his back.

"So what if he's the most handsome man in the capital? He's still just an illegitimate son. He's well matched with a country bumpkin."

Chang Ye was not offended. He even went to ask the emperor to grant their marriage.

When Duke Changguo rebelled, the nobles struggled to save themselves. Yet they saw the mountain-bred woman who had come to the capital standing guard beside the new emperor, knife in hand.

[Plot-focused blurb]

Several officials in Yanzhou died inexplicably, some of illness, others after falling from cliffs.

A magistrate died in his sleep after drinking. His wife firmly refused to hold a funeral, claiming foul play.

The matter reached the emperor, who ordered Chang Ye, Junior Minister of the Dali Temple, to investigate in Yanzhou.

Meanwhile, Luo Huyue, a Banner Officer of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, infiltrated the Earl of Loyalty and Valor's residence under the identity of a daughter of the house.

By day, Chang Ye stirred up a storm. By night, Luo Huyue crept along the rafters.

Together, they uncovered the truth behind the successive deaths of the officials. Following the clues, they investigated a case of privately minted copper coins in Yanzhou, with every lead pointing to Duke Changguo in the capital.

Autumn winds whipped around them. Hidden in a tree, Luo Huyue drew her bow and personally put an end to every grudge she had carried through the first half of her life.

The whole world is in my hands.

-

Luo Huyue, Banner Officer of the Embroidered Uniform Guard and adopted daughter of its commander. She'd rather throw a punch than say a word. (Huyue is pronounced Hu, second tone.)

x

Chang Ye, eldest son of the Duke of Jin's household and the gentlest, most beautiful young man in the capital

-

*The female lead takes her mother's surname.

*The male lead's identity was switched, but it is never switched back in the end. His enemies are dead, and he is content with his circumstances.

*The female lead is career-minded and serves as an official as a woman throughout the novel.

-------A peek at my upcoming novel-------

[Just started writing! 300,000 words already drafted] Reborn and Forced into a Happy Ending with My Nemesis

Lu Huiyi, an unscrupulous ambitious schemer x Zhao Ying, a sharp-tongued but soft-hearted white lotus

"A villain like you ought to be entangled with me for all eternity."

Lu Huiyi had three great regrets in life. First, her family was destroyed, wasting her youth and ultimately forcing her to grit her teeth and become a concubine in Prince Xing's household.

Second, her husband's cruelty. She cleared every obstacle for Prince Xing, only for him to make her miscarry and leave her infertile.

Third, Prince Jing, Zhao Ying, who opposed her at every turn.

On the day Prince Xing was defeated, Lu Huiyi set a great fire. No one in the prince's household survived.

When she opened her eyes again, she had returned to the age of fourteen. The Lu family had not yet fallen, and she was not yet a wicked enchantress.

Only Prince Jing was even more insufferable than in her previous life, clinging to her at every turn and ruining her plans again and again.

-

In the winter of the forty-fourth year of Jianping, foreign tribes and heavy snow swept south across the Yue River, covering the land of Yue.

The Yue kingdom did not live to see the spring of the forty-fifth year. Nor did the people entangled in the dynasty's struggles see the snow melt.

The pain of losing his country was Zhao Ying's obsession for all eternity. Perhaps that was why, after his death, his soul continued to wander the world, until he watched the snow bury every inch of Yue.

Fortunately,

fortunately, Heaven gave him a chance to live again.

But when Zhao Ying met that scoundrel of the Lu family from his previous life at a palace banquet, and met her sharp gaze,

he realized that he was not the only one favored by Heaven.

Zhao Ying took back one of his "fortunatelys."

-

Just because he had looked at her one time too many, rumors spread throughout the capital.

The culprit, Zhao Ying, flicked open his folding fan and said languidly,

"I do admire Miss Lu. Would you be willing to become my princess consort?"

Lu Huiyi retorted, "That depends on whether Your Highness has a strong enough life force."

Zhao Ying refused to back down. "I'll return the same words to you. Take care not to die halfway through your life, like you did in your previous one."

But once Lu Huiyi really became Princess Jing, all he could manage was an awkward grumble.

"Don't even think of hurting my mother and younger sister again. My life is strong enough to kill a wicked woman like you. You could say I'm doing the people a service."

Zhao Ying clearly broke his word.

For decades afterward, he shielded Lu Huiyi from countless open attacks and hidden schemes.

He would face the wind, frost, rain, and snow.

She would calculate every plot and scheme.

Their exceptionally strong fates bore the glory of two sages.

------Reading Guide------

- Both leads are reborn.

- The female lead's intelligence is the same before and after being reborn.

- Marriage before love. The proposal is motivated by mutual interests.

- The female lead was married in her previous life, but had no feelings for her former husband. One-on-one romance in this life.

- The male lead is a virgin in both lives, an exemplary gentleman!

- Fictional setting, happy ending.

Theme: The truth will eventually come to light