Pearl of the Li River

[Signed for simplified-Chinese publication; see wb @Songting saya for updates]

[The timid little princess who gets things done × the swaggering bandit who calls everyone a bird and an egg]

Born into an age of turmoil, Lizhu was a princess, yet her life was still full of hardship and setbacks.

Looking back on her life, the only time she had ever truly felt at ease was the brief three years she spent married to Pei Yinzhi.

It took Pei Yinzhi ten years to rise from a poor scholar to the highest ranks of the court and finally reach her. He spared her the humiliation of her first husband and the loneliness of having no one to rely on. He saved her from being sent far away to the frontier, where she would have endured a life of hardship, and gave her shelter amid the turmoil and uncertainty.

But his old illness returned, and his condition worsened beyond recovery. He died far too young, at just thirty.

Fortunately, Lizhu was reborn.

The little princess made up her mind: in this life, she would make sure Pei Yinzhi escaped every disaster and lived to a ripe old age.

-

Before she could even get started, Lizhu was captured by bandits as soon as she arrived in Pei Yinzhi's hometown.

Luckily, these bandits had their own code: they stole for money, not women. With her face grimy and her courage mustered, the little princess asked their masked leader about Pei Yinzhi's whereabouts.

To her surprise, he paused, tossed aside the gold and silver in his hand, and asked:

“...Which Pei Yinzhi?”

“The Pei of the Yiling Pei clan, and the Yinzhi meaning ‘may his descendants prosper.’ He's handsome, brilliant, and the finest young gentleman in the world. If you get me safely to him, I promise he'll reward you with a house full of gold and silver, and a life of wealth and glory!”

“Oh? And what are you to him?”

“...I'm his betrothed, the woman destined to be his perfect match!”

“That bastard is no one's perfect match.”

The young bandit took off his mask, revealing a handsome, smiling face Lizhu knew all too well.

“I'm much better-looking than he is, little lady. Why marry him... when you could marry me?”

Lizhu had thought her future husband was frail in body but firm in spirit, a delicate scholar with the bearing of a gentleman.

Only later did she learn that he had grown up in the countryside, couldn't read a single character, and was a ruthless bandit who had stolen another man's identity to rise to power, then murdered his father and elder brother.

In his previous life, he pretended to be someone else for years so he could marry a princess.

In this life, he had dropped the act, yet still dared to set his sights on her.

*A sweet romance about a devoted couple; not a strong female lead story or a political intrigue novel.

*Set in a fictional age of turmoil, blending elements from several dynasties, with inspiration from the Han, Wei, Jin, and Song. There are historical models, but this is not a scholarly work.

*The male lead does not become emperor. No other spoilers.

*The heroine had a former husband in her previous life; the male lead is sexually inexperienced in both lives.

*The political intrigue is kindergarten-level. The main story is about the couple falling in love.

-

When Xiao Jue first met Xie Lanshi, he thought only that this noblewoman from Danyang was a beauty without equal, one any capable man would want to claim.

After their marriage alliance, Xiao Jue discovered that every hero under heaven thought the same.

-

Born into the Danyang Xie clan, a family of three generations of high-ranking officials, Xie Lanshi was renowned across the land for her beauty and talent. In both her lives, she was like the bright moon in the heavens, admired by countless men but forever out of their reach.

That is, until she dreamed that her entire family would be wiped out, and her own husband would personally offer her to a regional warlord.

When she opened her eyes again, there was only an hour left before the heir of the Langya Wang clan would force her into marriage.

Meanwhile, her father was at a banquet, refusing a frontier general from Liangzhou, a man he considered uncouth and beneath them.

Xie Lanshi knew that this rough-edged general would rise to become the great warlord of his age in the years of chaos to come.

She also knew that before he could achieve his ambition, he would die in a failed quest for revenge.

Xie Lanshi: I'll take him.

If I'm going to die sooner or later, I might as well have him fend off the rotten suitors this chaotic age sends my way first.

[A Little Scene]

The first time Xiao Jue was hunted by a man who coveted Xie Lanshi, he escaped by the skin of his teeth. His eyes turned sinister.

This woman is weak in body and venomous at heart, full of schemes. Once the time is right, I'll cut all ties with her.

The second time, Xiao Jue dragged himself out of a pile of corpses and wiped the blood from his face. He laughed in fury.

They want to claim his wife? Who do they think they are?

And then a third time, a fourth...

Xie Lanshi kept waiting for the day Xiao Jue could no longer take it and demanded a divorce.

Yet from a spring night in Yangzhou, where corpses littered the ground, to a winter month in Youzhou, battered by howling winds and blizzards, the young general who had always treated her coldly braved storm after storm, carrying her on his back with steady steps and gritted teeth as they fought their way through one deadly ordeal after another.

Clinging to his shoulders, Xie Lanshi thought,

Perhaps this marriage built on false affection could go on a little longer after all.

Theme: Loving every part of someone