[The full novel is now available under the same title on WeRead, so I’ve only posted a small portion here. If you’re interested, feel free to drop by and visit~]
Blurb:
At eight years old, Chu Liao was sent to Wei as a hostage. At his waist hung his father’s crescent-shaped jade pendant, and behind him rose clouds of mugwort smoke from the homes of countless families across Chu.
The Wei palace was bleak and cold. Its only warmth came from his attendant, Yue Li, who always carried the faint scent of pine.
Yue Li took fifty lashes for him, leaving his flesh torn and bloody. He held Chu Liao in his arms when thunder roared. He taught him patience, strategy, and how to “fight for the people.”
Through the snow and storms of a foreign land, the young Chu Liao came to regard him as a big brother closer than blood, his only family.
“Yue Li, don’t die.” At his sickbed, Chu Liao begged through his sobs.
“When you return to Chu with me, I’ll make up for all the suffering you’ve endured these past few years. I promise.”
Again and again, he made solemn promises.
Ten years of hardship passed, and the boy came of age.
At last, Chu Liao returned at the head of an army, crossing the bloodstained palace steps of his homeland. But the one waiting for him was the “treacherous chancellor,” dressed in plain white, a scar around his neck, seated beside a cold alchemy furnace.
The leaden light of the sky reflected in the man’s eyes as he softly called out:
“Shi Ming, you’re home.”
The warm scent of pinewood from years past, now replaced by the cold blade of political intrigue.
Once, he was the light in Chu Liao’s darkness. Now he had become the deepest shadow before the throne.
The greater good of their country, ten years of gratitude, bone-deep suspicions... For whose sake was the scar between them left behind?
A bond spanning lifetimes, beginning with two lost souls relying on each other and ending in a struggle for the throne. Amid the smoke of the Chu palace and the blizzards of Wei, truth and deep affection alike are stained with blood.
Mighty warrior hostage top x beautiful strategist bottom
Younger love interest, genuine growing-up-together story, political intrigue with real sweetness
Fictional setting, the Qin of old is left out for now
You can read the prologue after the novel is complete!
Plenty of side couples
Ensemble cast
Theme: Perseverance
The further we go, the more we feel that Yue Li and Xiao Liao are no longer the subject of the article. They have been integrated into a large time and space. The author only seems to be writing about emotional intrigue, but in fact he is writing about his understanding of that era, and it is not even limited to that era. The author chose to start with the feelings of some people who have strong love and hate, but cannot look at these feelings from the perspective of being in the game. Otherwise, you will never understand why the queen is repeatedly depressed and wandering, and you will not understand what Yue Li is panicking about. Only by flying above the timeline and flipping it can we understand that it is the long-term and indelible pain caused by the word "reform". The battle between the new and the old. The Queen is the old party that is being pulled and unable to move forward. Yue Li is the new party that is fiercely counterattacked by the old party. It is too difficult. It's difficult. Military power, reputation, conscience, and interests are far from being solved by destroying a clear-cut villain in other novels. The Jing family is certainly hateful, and Jing Yue is also the embodiment of evil, but he is just a flag, a sail of evil spirits, and he has attracted all the evil spirits. It was the force that reversed the course of history that almost wiped out the Chu world. That force accumulated over time and was as huge as a shadow. It was so big that even geniuses like Chu Liao Yue Li and other geniuses could not sleep at night. That cannot be changed by one or two people. In this court, no one can do things based on their so-called preferences, unless they are completely separated. For example, the pair of orthopedics in the Wei family can be a pair of swallows under the eaves without any distractions. However, this is also because of Wei Ming's kindness and carrying forward with a heavy burden. There is no other way, who can There are many brothers in the Wei family, but the Chu family has a deep love for each other. Chu Liao was forced to suffer from a young age. Until the end, the author finally let go of the story. But in my heart, I felt that the queen's ending was also that of Yue Li, and he did die once. It can also be seen that the madness of the Chu family is the same. From the text, we can only see the madness of the previous Queen Chu, but Brother Chu, Chu Liao, and even the next Prince Chu are all exactly the same madness. When I saw that place at the end, fate was actually a trick. Chu Liao was so determined to go back to see Yue Li. He wanted to walk out of the two paths written by fate. He pitted 200 people against 20,000 people and lost two friends. In the end, he still embarked on the path that had been written for a long time. Along the way, he and Yue Li were like a handful of sand held in the palm of his hand. The tighter he held it, the faster it drained away. Only in the end did he learn to let go. He spread his hand, and the sand gradually slowed down its slippage. Finally, it stopped slipping and stayed firmly in his palm. More and more separation, he has been parting all his life, and the protagonist's words are also a prophecy in the article. Following his perspective, the reader continues to experience life and death, until in the end, he and Chu Liao parted. Fortunately, Chu Liao finally became his final destination. He, a person who has been wandering all his life, also has a cemetery that he will never leave. History is like this. The first few pages show him building a tall building, and the next few pages must show how his building collapsed. After all, it is a dynasty that has been destroyed. The ending of history is always bleak. Chu State is already much better than history. It is less than one ten thousandth of the reality of internal and external troubles, which are already so difficult. Spring goes and spring comes again, flowers fade and flowers bloom again, I most recall the time when I visited, spring, summer, autumn and winter, all four seasons are beautiful. What I most recall is the glimpse of the girl from the Fuji family, which is the last beautiful moment of the whole novel.
The writing is very good. Don't you plan to sign the contract?
King Wei, your son is for you, both of your sons are for you 🐶 []
Is Teacher almost finished? Can I join now?
What?! No, why did Xiao Jiang die? No, no, no.
Let me go, the teacher seems to like Xiao Chu's brother!
The flower of Chu State is impatient. He really wants to make Xiao Chu smile.
I'm afraid Xiao Chu's mentality at this time is not to kill me.
The teacher's head-knocking is so intimate.
It's too young to smash the ink pen. The teacher is not very old at this time.