Under celestial dreams, Xianxia and Wuxia worlds unfold
Ye Hua I dream about her often, but there’s this one dream I keep having nearly every night recently. Surrounded by peach trees, Qian Qian is in Zhe Yan’s orchard. She has a tender smile and sparkling eyes. Beckoning me closer, she calls out my name, “Ye Hua, come quick,” her lips forming the words. […]
The White Lotus 50,000 years later “Little brother A-li, twenty-one, are you that eager to leave us?” My Kunlun brothers are hanging in the doorway, teasing me. Some are making silly faces, and some are smiling in the brotherly way they do. I look up from packing and sheepishly drop my head, reaching to scratch […]
Absolution Bai Qian had once longed to be a solitary stone within Mo Yuan’s secluded cave. In her daydreams, she was a still, unbreathing stone with him. That’s how much she longed to be near her revered master. As a young disciple, she eagerly waited for hours at the entrance of the cave, undeterred by […]
Zháng fū The scroll, though made of the lightest parchment, felt surprisingly heavy and weighty. Was this because of the contents? He assumed yes. Her servants had found it tucked away, hidden inside her desk, when they cleaned. He had been staring at it for hours, conflicted. Too terrified to read the contents, yet desperate […]
Warning: This chapter contains violence, both sexual and physical, and suicide. Winner Takes It All Yueli~ Who is this stranger? Qing Yuan’s terrifyingly dreamy, melancholic, and nostalgic tone jolts me awake, like an icy splash. Words tumble from Qing Yuan’s lips in a nervous, rapid-fire rant. “All he had to do was what I […]
A Bad Omen Jingyuan~ “What’s this. It looks like blood.” A deep ruby color stands out against a pure white. The image is stark, with a crimson mar resembling a stroke made with a brush, its ink heavy only on the ends. A single, deep red dot, saturated in color, shows the stroke’s beginning; its […]
Bound to Cross Paths Her eunuch Xiao Wei and a female attendant guarding the entry to her residence see me and kneel before addressing me. “Greetings to the emperor. We were not informed of your visit to the empress tonight. She is getting ready for bed, but I will inform the empress and Gugu Min […]
Phoenix Nine Heavens~ She was a sight for sore eyes. As Cheng Yu came into Lian Song’s sight, his heart skipped a beat. Their history together was bittersweet. Tens of thousands of years ago, their passionate romance ended abruptly. Lian Song’s father, the previous Sky Lord, deemed Cheng Yu unworthy of becoming his princess consort. […]
The Empress’s Messenger Little Min~ Imperial doctor Cai carefully examines the empress’s slender wrist. His deep-set eyes, like pools of obsidian, narrow in concentration as he delicately feels her pulse with a pale gold handkerchief that lies between their skin. With a steady hand, he retrieves a gleaming silver acupuncture needle from between her brows, […]
Min Qian Ju’s Pearls Yi Bo~ Yi Bo’s first case as a 19-year-old Safety Compliance agent involved a three-year-old boy. The boy was swept away and drowned in a flash flood. Yi Bo was struck by how small and light the drenched boy was, and how his baby hair clung to Yi Bo’s forearm when […]
What Could Have Been Jingyuan~ I had been arrogant. When I heard Ye Hua had blinded Bai Qian during their love trial, I recall thinking to myself, what a damn fool he had been. What a juvenile mistake he made. He had failed her most heinously, and I couldn’t fathom how he could let such […]
Broken Things Yueli~ Every night, as the moon casts its silvery glow through my bedroom window, I make promises that often slip through my fingers like sand. I vow to send him away when he emerges from the shadows, his presence filling the room. He’s supposed to be somewhere else, yet, when he slips into […]
Shifu They call Jingyuan’s reign the gilded age of the great Huaxia Dynasty. Jingyuan has been the emperor for five years officially, but he was handling the previous emperor’s duties long before taking the dragon throne. His inherent leadership abilities, unmistakable since childhood, make him a quintessential example of a born ruler. His intelligence is […]
Date Night Everything is terribly ceremonial with us. Rigid rituals and formal etiquette define palace life. Every move, from casual family dinners with Haoyu to our monthly full moon bedding, is precisely arranged step by step leaving no room for spontaneity. I can’t recall him or I ever acting on a whim until now. Tonight […]
Beautiful Dream But Impossible Dream It used to be effortless, a mere administrative duty, like assigning new servants to different residences. The carefree days of approaching this part of my life with indifference, merely linking names to satisfy his sexual needs and conceive his offspring, are gone. This newfound romance with the emperor is now […]
