The Bodhisattva's Face

[Complete! Please leave a five-star review! The blurb for my upcoming novel, My Lady, Peace, is at the very bottom. If you like it, remember to add it to your collection~]

[Beautiful, strong, and tragic revenge-seeking black lotus × calculating, overbearing minister]

On the eve of the He family's sentence to execution, He Mingzhuang knelt before her father and begged him to marry her off to Shen Zhuo, the commander of the Northern Pacification Bureau.

The next day, all three hundred members of the He family were beheaded.

On the bridal bed at the Northern Pacification Bureau, Shen Zhuo gripped He Mingzhuang by the throat and slammed her down hard.

"You climbed into my bed over the bones of your parents and family. Beneath that bodhisattva face, Miss He, what kind of heart are you hiding?"

The woman trembled slightly from the pain. Her features were exquisite, her eyes full of tender tears, and a tiny scarlet mole sat between her brows. In the capital, she was known as "the bodhisattva face."

A bodhisattva face, a viper's heart.

She feared death, abandoned her family, and survived alone.

He Mingzhuang knew she would never be able to stand again, but she had a reason she had to keep living.

Until one day, she leaned on Shen Zhuo to forge a blade, then held it to her enemy's throat.

Shen Zhuo clasped her wrist and took the knife from her hand.

Blood burst beneath the blade. In the dark prison of the Northern Pacification Bureau, the man stood with a careless smile tugging at his lips.

"If you want to be a bodhisattva in the eyes of the world, then cut out that viper's heart of yours."

He handed her the knife. "Put it in my hands."

They say bodhisattvas cherish all living beings, but He Mingzhuang never imagined that one day Shen Zhuo, ruthless and decisive in the outside world, would kneel before her and beg her to love him.

--

Shen Zhuo: At first, I thought what everyone else did: that she only wanted to use my power to stay alive. Only later did I learn that she was a bodhisattva no one could ever crush.

(The heroine is very clear-headed and strong, and is never in a subordinate position in her relationship with the hero. Deep down, however, she has a thought she has never shared: someone as independent as her has to rely on a man to survive. I'm explaining this in case it causes any misunderstandings. Hope you enjoy the story~)

[Reading Notes]

1. Both leads are devoted to each other; marriage before love, with a turbulent relationship at first and a regret-and-redemption arc later (the hero has an sj illness early on);

2. This is not a story that victimizes the heroine. She has a tragic past, plays the fool while hiding her strength, and is the hero's equal; they are evenly matched;

3. The setting is fictional, with the official system loosely based on the Ming dynasty. There are many original elements, so please don't nitpick the historical details;

4. Blurb written on March 18, 2024.

-- Blurb for the upcoming novel My Lady, Peace --

Luo Yizhi found someone on a rainy night.

He had been stabbed several times and was covered in blood. He had lost all his memories, and the only thing he had going for him was a rather handsome face.

The Luo family's rules were strict. Taking in a gravely injured stranger of unknown origin would be inviting disaster.

But looking at his clear, bewildered eyes, Luo Yizhi couldn't bring herself to turn him away.

She secretly brought him home, treated his wounds and sought medicine for him, then kept him as her personal guard.

When she told him to go east, he never went west. When she ordered him to kneel, he never dared get up. When she missed her late mother, he quietly stayed by her side and awkwardly offered her a handkerchief.

She thought their peaceful days would continue, but one morning he left without a word, as if he had never existed.

Luo Yizhi remained despondent for a long time, until shocking news arrived from the capital: the Marquis of Zhenbei had returned to the capital, and the Fourth Prince, who had seized the throne, had been beheaded overnight. All the court officials who had backed him were slaughtered.

The Luo family, too, had been implicated through its connection to the rebels and found itself in the eye of the storm. They chose to flee as a family.

Just as they finished packing and stepped out of the manor, someone blocked their way.

The illustrious Prince of Zhenbei stood solemnly before the gate with eight sedan-chair bearers. He greeted the old madam with, "May you be blessed with peace," and the lady of the house with, "May you enjoy peace and grace."

When he saw Luo Yizhi, he said, "My Lady, peace."

--

"Zhizhi, I killed someone again today... Do you still want me?"

Theme: Find peace within yourself.