Concealing the Spring Tide

Recommendation rating: ★★★★★ Sweet romance + Clean couple + Fictional setting + Pure historical romance The plot of "Covering Spring Tide" is intricately linked, and the characters are vividly portrayed. The author's writing is superb, with a delicate style. 💖A predestined relationship continues in this life In their past life, Cheng Ruohuai and Tao Yueniang were childhood sweethearts. However, shortly after their engagement, Cheng Ruohuai's father, Cheng Wuming, was tragically trampled to death by a horse ridden recklessly in the street. Cheng Ruohuai's mother took him to report the incident to the authorities, but was humiliated by the clerk and subsequently committed suicide by crashing into the gate of the county government office. Cheng Ruohuai knelt at the county government office for a long time but could not obtain justice, and eventually joined a Buddhist monastery with a monk. After learning of this, Tao Xingwang, to avoid his daughter Tao Yueniang being stigmatized, only told Yueniang that the Cheng family had moved away, and the marriage between Yueniang and Cheng Ruohuai was called off. Tang Liu, a silk merchant, unexpectedly fell in love with Yueniang. After obtaining the consent of Yueniang's parents, he took her as a concubine, but feeling that Yueniang was too young, he couldn't bear to tell her that she was actually his mistress. Desiring a child, Yue Niang heard that everything she prayed for at the Bao'en Temple in Yujing was effective, so she asked Tang Liu to take her there. Unexpectedly, she encountered her beloved Ruo Huai at the temple. Although neither had let go of the other, their different social statuses made a legitimate relationship impossible. Tang Liu discovered Yue Niang's affair and drowned her. Jue Shan, heartbroken at losing his love, jumped into the water. In this life, Cheng Ruo Huai became Shen Qian, and Tao Yue Niang became Meng Yao Niang, their forbidden love once more blossoming. 💖A predestined connection in a dream The two could glimpse their past lives, and their minds were disturbed by the dreams. Two people who fall asleep at the same time will share the same dream; wearing a Bodhi seed can help resolve this shared dream. 💖Main Characters ✨The male lead is Shen Qian, the third master of the Shen family, who holds the official position of Minister of Revenue (a second-rank official). He is also a cabinet member, second-rank minister, and chief minister. He is also known as Cheng Ruohuai and Jueshan. He is aloof and refined. ✨The female lead is Meng Yaoniang, an unfavored concubine's daughter in the Meng family (also known as Madam Ru, Meng Xiaoniang, Madam Shen, the Prime Minister's wife, and Tao Yueniang): resolute and protective of her own. ✨The eldest son of the male and female leads is Shen Fu: exceptionally intelligent ✨The youngest daughter of the male and female leads is Shen Linlang: innocent and adorable. ✨The male lead's personal attendant is Qingsong: understanding and considerate. ✨Qingsong's official partner is the female lead's maid, Yuan'er: meticulous and considerate. ✨The first male supporting character is Zeng Ji, the illegitimate son of the Zeng family (the illegitimate son who was once engaged to Meng Yaoniang, a compiler, prefect of Hangzhou, and right vice minister of the Zhejiang Provincial Governor's Office): gentle and refined, with outstanding literary talent. ✨Zeng Ji's official love interest is Cen Qingqing, the daughter of Cen Qingzhi, the Left Censor-in-Chief: innocent, lively, and simple. ✨The second male supporting character is Shen Xun, the only son of the Shen family (son of Shen Cheng, nephew of Shen Qian, eldest young master, gentleman, elder brother): amorous and charming. ✨The third male supporting character is Meng Jian (the father of the Meng sisters): selling his daughters for personal gain. ✨The fourth male supporting character is the patriarch Shen Cheng: Honest ✨The fifth male supporting character is Second Master Shen Jie: Put yourself in others' shoes ✨Sixth male supporting character is Shen Jie's son, Shen Lu: adorable. ✨The first female supporting character is Madam Shen: deeply devoted to her son. ✨The second female supporting character is the First Madam, Lady Wang: concerned with appearances. ✨The third female supporting character is the second wife, Zheng: a vegetarian and Buddhist. ✨Female supporting character number four is Qing Xiaoniang, Qing Zijin: charming and beautiful ✨The fifth female supporting character is the young mistress Meng Liniang (the eldest son's wife): timid and vicious. ✨Sixth female supporting character is Liu Xiaoniang, Liu Yuerou (Wang's niece): haughty and arrogant. ✨Seventh female supporting character is Wu Ruolan, the Empress's younger sister: cunning and scheming ✨The eighth female supporting character is Li (Meng Liniang's mother): vain and greedy. ✨Supporting Female Character Nine: Shen Hui (Meng Liniang's daughter, Hui Jie'er): Well-behaved 💖Key Quotes ✨All conditioned phenomena are like dreams, illusions, bubbles, and shadows. The world is but fleeting existence, and gains and losses are but passing clouds. Thinking this way, one's mind gradually finds liberation. ✨The twists and turns of fate in this world ensure that those who meet will always meet again. ✨She wasn't some powerful figure who could command the winds and rains, nor did she have a family to rely on. No matter how hard she was to part with her love and the people she loved, she had no choice but to give them up in the face of her own safety. ✨But human nature is strange; it's precisely when something disappointing that you expect actually happens that you feel uneasy. ✨Those who strategize well first win hearts and minds. Wild beasts and tigers don't even need to exert effort to seize what they want; the chilling wind whistling past their prey's ears is enough to throw them into disarray. ✨That's how relationships between people work. Any lingering concerns and anxieties between two people can only be eliminated by a public confrontation, which actually strengthens the bond between them. ✨The transition between the old and the new is naturally unpredictable. As long as we are well prepared, we should not fear changes in the weather, blindly follow ancestral laws, or heed public opinion. Once the arrow is released, there is no turning back. Hesitation and indecisiveness, and giving up halfway, are the greatest taboos in this reform. ✨Sometimes, even if you do nothing, what's meant to happen will still happen. You might think others are being instigated or misled by you, but that's not necessarily true; you might just be awakening their evil thoughts. So there's no need to fear cause and effect; the world is controlled by people. ✨Throughout history, countless plays and stories have told tales of couples living a life of one love and devotion, but in reality, most of these stories fall short of expectations. ✨If one gets used to luxury, one will inevitably succumb to this lukewarm state and end up being wasted away, becoming less and less like a human being. ✨What joy in this world could be worth risking half your life to bring a child into the world, only to experience the same suffering again? This endless cycle is worse than not having children at all. ✨When people relax, they let their emotions run wild. ✨Those in positions of power need people who have some flaws and can be controlled by them, so that such people will not threaten their supreme authority. ✨In life, it's easy to retreat when faced with challenges, but difficult to move forward. However, there are always a few things that one cannot retreat from. ✨If you don't want to be bullied in this world, you must make yourself more fearless and not give others the opportunity to bully you. ✨A true man should not be preoccupied with any particular matter or emotion; whether something is right or wrong, the will of Heaven will decide. A predicament lingers in the mind; failing to break free when the time is right will only breed endless troubles. ✨The truth is often veiled, and even so, many people in this world dare not touch it, nor can they touch it. For the slightest carelessness will surely lead to unbearable suffering. ✨One cannot dwell on the past forever; what is past is past and need not be held onto. ✨So many people are suffering from hunger and hardship these days. If I don't stand up for them, I would truly be ashamed of my ambition to serve in the government. If I can achieve my ambitions in the future and then return to Jiangnan to live a peaceful life with you, I will have no regrets in this life. ✨The world is full of ordinary people, countless in number. They are just two ordinary grains of dust, but just when they are about to see the light at the end of the tunnel, they are hit hard by suffering. ✨Power and wealth are fleeting, life is short, and everyone has their own ambitions and pursuits. I just want to stay with my wife now, and I am already satisfied with what I have now.

It's incredibly good, with no plot holes, a perfect pace, and the characters are portrayed with great subtlety. Like a gentle stream, the story unfolds beautifully, and every character is wonderfully developed. It avoids forcing melodrama or drastically altering the plot for the sake of being a fast-paced, exciting read. It's been a long time since I've read a book this good.

I suspect that the author might be a time traveler, whose previous incarnation was probably Tang Xianzu, the author of The Peony Pavilion. In feudal times, young women in their boudoirs suffered heavy constraints from traditional etiquette, which was a great shackle and harm to their physical and mental health. In The Peony Pavilion, the male and female protagonists meet and unite in a dream, and after the female protagonist dies, she is reborn and the two finally become a couple. The author's profound knowledge of traditional Chinese culture is truly remarkable. He vividly depicts the romantic scenes between the male and female protagonists in a way that is poetic, dreamlike, and picturesque, leaving the reader with much to ponder. The male and female protagonists in the book, in order to break through the constraints of reality, scheme and plot with restraint and cunning, their scheming is undeniably profound. They show no saintly sentimentality when faced with grudges and love affairs, yet the reader doesn't find it inappropriate. Good books must be recommended.

The author's writing is superb, so beautifully written! Certain ineffable things are metaphorically represented by various scenes or objects, creating a sense of bewilderment and wonder! This historical romance is quite realistic and not a typical female-centric story. The female protagonist is a concubine's daughter who marries along with her elder sister. Before marriage, she struggled to survive under the rule of her stepmother and elder sister. Marrying a concubine's son and becoming his legal wife was her hope and expectation for the future, but fate is unpredictable, and her dream was shattered. After marriage, her philandering and lustful husband became her nightmare. She had to outwit and outmaneuver him to protect herself, and her third uncle secretly helped her along the way. The book is depressing, reflecting the weakness, helplessness, and vulnerability of women in their husbands' families in ancient times. This applies not only to wives, but also to concubines and maids. The women around Shen Xun, those vying for his favor and climbing the social ladder—weren't they all playthings of men? They were also victims of the wife-concubine system and the vast disparity in status between men and women. Although both the male and female protagonists' love affairs in their two lifetimes were considered "marital infidelity," which of the female protagonist's husbands in both lifetimes treated her as a wife or a human being? Modern women can divorce and remarry, but what could women in ancient times do when they were destitute and helpless? It can only be said that they were extremely pitiful and helpless! In such situations, we shouldn't use moral constraints to bind the weak. "Infidelity" deserves sympathy and forgiveness!

This book is so good I'll want to stay up all night to finish it. The author is updating it frequently!

The plot is very vivid and worth reading. It's just that the rating is a bit low, for such a good book.

To be honest, I came across this novel before, read one chapter, and gave up because I didn't like the female lead's character setting of being someone else's concubine at the beginning. But recently, I picked it up again and it got more and more exciting. The author's writing is excellent, the relationships between the characters are complex yet clear, the plot is intricately linked, and the reader can follow along with the characters' inner changes and development. The author writes about ancient etiquette and court politics in great detail and without ambiguity. In short, it's a very good novel.

The synopsis says it's a happy ending, but given the current setup, how will the male and female leads get together? Will the female lead's background undergo some significant changes later on? Or will her nephew get into trouble and get killed?

Firstly, this relationship is inherently improper, lacking any semblance of genuine affection and propriety. In their past life, the male protagonist's family suffered a calamity, leading him to become a monk. The female protagonist's parents concealed the truth from her, causing her to become a concubine. Although a concubine, her husband did not mistreat her. She also devoutly went to the temple to pray for a child and met the male protagonist. Despite being a married woman, she repeatedly seduced him, engaging in illicit affairs. When her husband discovered this, she drowned (how could any man, ancient or modern, bear such a fate?). The male protagonist, deeply moved, jumped into a well to die for her (showing that even in his family's misfortune, he did not remember his childhood sweetheart and had no feelings for her whatsoever). In this life, now a married woman, she again oversteps her bounds, even begging the male protagonist to release her. In ancient times, concubines had little status; Jia Lian's father even gave his concubine to his son. The male and female protagonists' mutual seduction and forced sorrow...

This is a very heartwarming novel. The author's writing is beautiful and delicate, the characters are very distinctive, and the plot is fast-paced and concise. The places described in the text are truly indescribable; readers are encouraged to experience them for themselves. 😊