No Cure for Lovesickness

The boundless Xiyan Continent is home to only one dynasty, the Xiyan Dynasty.

The people of the Xiyan Continent revere the strong. Only the strongest are worthy of ruling it.

One name is worshipped by the entire empire: Wenren Zi.

He is the most revered ruler of the Xiyan Dynasty, only one step away from the legendary realm of the Celestials.

A divine dragon, a sight seen only once in several centuries, appeared on the Xiyan Continent.

The emperor fought the dragon for three days and three nights. Heaven and earth darkened, and the moon and mountains shook.

The dragon lashed its tail, shattering peaks, and its fiery breath dried up a river.

In the end, Wenren Zi subdued it and made it his spirit beast.

There was a medical clinic in Sucheng whose owner suffered from a strange illness.

He kept himself hidden beneath a black robe all day, unable to face the light.

Princess Yueya was the emperor's younger sister and his cherished favorite.

So she often rode her imperial brother's divine dragon through the mountains and valleys.

One day, on a bare mountainside by a cliff,

a black-robed man was gathering stone hearts, certain stones whose sticky cores could be used in medicine.

The mountain wind blew open his robe. The princess looked down from the clouds.

Oh no, she fell in love at first sight.

By imperial decree, the sickly clinic owner became the princess's consort.

But the truth wasn't quite like that. Come on in and find out.

A simple version of the story:

Murong Sishui was an unlucky child. One year, she went up the mountain with her father to gather herbs.

Suddenly, dark clouds rolled across the sky, and a divine dragon appeared, raising wind and waves.

The father and daughter had never seen a divine dragon before. They gaped up at the sky, their eyes fixed on it.

Suddenly, a flash of white light appeared, and a glowing figure emerged in the sky.

Then came thunder and lightning. Heaven and earth darkened, and the father and daughter hid in a crevice.

A man and a dragon battled with magic, sending dazzling beams of light everywhere.

One beam shot straight into Sishui's wide-open eyes as she watched. Two streams of blood ran down her cheeks, and she was blinded on the spot.

Fortunately, Sishui's father was a Mystic-Rank spellcaster. He spent everything he owned,

and even sold himself to a noble family in the capital, before he managed to heal his daughter's eyes.

But the treatment left lasting effects: whenever she saw light, her eyes would weep blood uncontrollably.

The medicine also changed her voice as a side effect, making her sound just like a man.

Murong Fu left behind a clinic buried in debt and made a pact with his daughter, whose eyes still wept blood:

Once Sishui had paid off every debt, they would reunite in the capital.

That wasn't the only tragedy. Murong Sishui had a childhood sweetheart who was her betrothed,

but she had to stay hidden under a black robe all day, and her voice sounded like a man's.

She became a laughingstock.

From then on, Murong Sishui would rather be a man.

She changed her name to Murong Si.

And the one to blame for her miserable life was none other than the most revered ruler of the Xiyan Dynasty,

and his dragon.