Debts of Love

[Sinister, refined scoundrel vs. resilient, unyielding beauty]

Ever since she learned that the new pacification commissioner was named Wei Linyan, Su Muyao had been plagued by nightmares every night.

Years ago, to protect her beloved's future, Su Muyao hid the truth, leaving Wei Linyan to take the blame and suffer severe punishment.

As the wounded young man was driven out of the academy, he looked at her expressionlessly.

Several years passed in the blink of an eye, and Wei Linyan became a powerful general.

Every aristocratic family whose sons had once offended him was either executed to the last member or imprisoned and exiled. No one escaped.

Su Muyao prayed day and night, hoping only that their paths would never cross again.

Now the Su family had fallen into ruin, and she was living under someone else's roof. If he came for revenge, crushing her would be as easy as killing an ant.

Who could have expected Wei Linyan to appear with a sword at an ordinary family banquet?

The guests trembled as they welcomed him.

Yet he parted the crowd and walked toward Su Muyao, his eyes dark.

Wei Linyan smiled. "It's been a long time, Miss Su. Won't you offer me a cup of wine?"

In the shadows, the cold hilt of his sword pressed against Su Muyao's slender lower back. Through her thin spring clothes, it slowly traced the length of her spine.

Her stiffened hand could barely hold her wine cup.

Looking at her tearful, frightened face, Wei Linyan's smile deepened.

As their cups touched, he leaned closer, his voice husky.

"Now that I'm back, are you happy?"

*

Wei Linyan rose from a despised illegitimate son to a powerful minister whom everyone feared.

Su Muyao had once been the moon he could see but never reach.

Who could have known how unpredictable life would be?

Now he had climbed the ladder to the clouds, while she had fallen into the mud.

With the power to cover the sky in his hands, plucking the moon was now child's play.

[Reading Guide]

A self-indulgent story of a man taking a woman by force.

One couple, with the plot and romance split about evenly. It's a sweet story (I laughed as I typed that myself).

Theme: Fortune and misfortune depend on each other, but what happens is up to us.