Hate in This Lifetime

[Pre-release story: Empress Shen] Come check it out!

Cui Guanyan was born a noblewoman, with beauty and talent unmatched in the capital.

But branded a bringer of bad luck, she suffered for years before being forced by imperial decree to marry Chu Yuantang, the mad king in everyone's eyes.

Yet as she held the marriage contract, joy nearly overflowed in her heart.

She still remembered the first time they met. Before they had made it halfway home, bandits blocked their way.

Amid the clash of blades, a rider charged through the attackers and shielded her. His clothes were spattered with blood, his gaze calm and sharp.

She was struck by the realization that someone could be so captivating she couldn't look away.

After they married, Chu Yuantang remained taciturn and cold. Still, she hoped that with her growing closer to him, their days would gradually grow warmer.

Until Chu Yuantang was falsely accused of plotting rebellion and gave her poisoned wine before the palace gates, where blood ran freely.

Her own father, in the name of preserving the family's good name, personally submitted a petition asking the emperor to execute his daughter as a sacrifice to Heaven.

Her body vanished without a trace, and her blood stained the execution ground. Only as she died did she learn that her love had been misplaced, and that her family and husband were all illusions.

But Heaven did not take her.

She was reborn! Back at seventeen, just as she set out for the capital.

Cui Guanyan swore she would never repeat her past mistakes. Everyone who had ever stepped on her to climb higher would be utterly destroyed, one by one.

Her father struggled and begged for help at her feet. She slowly crouched down. "Don't rush, Father. There are so many ways to die. I'll pick them out for you one by one."

But despite everything she had done, why had the husband she had once cherished, who used to avoid her like the plague, changed so completely? Why did he now favor her at every turn and beg her to come back?

-

In his previous life, Chu Yuantang died in defeat. Only then did he realize that the whole world had betrayed him, while she alone had protected him with her life, dying without a whole body.

At the moment of his death, he remembered their wedding night. Beneath the wavering red candles, he lifted her veil. The young woman gazed up at him, her eyes full of undisguised delight, her smile sincere as she poured a lifetime of affection into their nuptial wine.

But in the end, he had let her down.

When they met again after being reborn, she was captured and taken to an abandoned post station. He fought his way in and took a blade meant for her.

She merely lowered her head to brush the drops of blood from her skirt, her expression as cold and lifeless as ash.

Blood soaked through his clothes and half his body. He was carried into a clinic, his face as pale as paper. Half-conscious, with only a thin wall between them, he heard her say coldly, "To me, he is nothing but an enemy beneath the executioner's blade."

Only then did he realize how deeply she hated him.

But he still let her use him, tolerated her attempts on his life, and willingly became the sharpest blade in her hand, a pawn she could discard at will.

As long as he could shield her from every storm, he would not ask where the road led.

Even if the end of that road was a deadly trap she had set for him herself.

After all, he owed her this, didn't he?

Pre-release story: Empress Shen

Shen Mingxi had lost three years of her memories. When she woke up, she discovered she was now the empress, hated by everyone.

The court historians called her a scourge upon the empire.

The palace servants said she had persecuted the consorts.

The people wanted to tear her to pieces.

But she remembered none of it.

The only person willing to stay by her side was Pei An, the regent said to hate her most.

He told her, "You did those things, but not for your own sake."

-

Pei An really had hated Shen Mingxi once.

Until one rainy night, she rushed into his arms, eyes red.

For the next three years, they acted like sworn enemies in public, but were entangled in private.

Now she had woken up and forgotten it all.

She asked, "My lord, aren't you the one who hates me most?"

Pei An was silent for a long time.

"Yes."

Because she had once told him that if she ever forgot everything, he must not use the past to make her come back.

Theme: My fate is in my own hands.