Temples Slightly Frosted with Gray

Fang Xiao, a young lady from an eminent aristocratic family, was betrothed in childhood to Yang Yan, a young man of equal social standing. They grew up together as childhood sweethearts. No matter what Fang Xiao did, Yang Yan would always protect and indulge her. Even when her entire clan was struck by disaster overnight, the hand that held hers so tightly never let go. He knelt beside her bed and vowed to stay with her for the rest of their lives. But a man as good as him should not be dragged down by her misfortunes. So she pushed Yang Yan away, endured humiliation and disgrace, and single-handedly destroyed the enemy kingdom to avenge the wrongs done to her family. When they met again, she was a solitary orphan who had become a Taoist nun, while he had seized the throne through his family’s power and become the exalted Prince of Jin. By then, he had already taken a wife. “Yang Yan, I love you. Those are the most useless words in this world.” He stubbornly drew close to her, lowering himself to coax a smile from her. He brutally beat and humiliated the criminals who had wronged her, and transformed the austere Taoist temple into the home of her dreams. Even when the truth behind her family’s massacre came to light and she slaughtered the entire imperial clan, Yang Yan merely smiled indulgently. “Fang Xiao, even if you bring the heavens crashing down, I’ll be the one to put them back together for you.” The heavens fell, and Yang Yan became the new Heaven itself. Crowned empress on the very same day, she believed that, at last, her suffering had ended and her long-awaited happy life had begun. But one bloody truth after another gradually came to light, and she suddenly realized that she had never been anything more than a blade wielded in the struggle to transfer imperial power from one ruler to another. Faced with the cold, questioning gaze of the woman he loved, the emperor’s dignified composure crumbled completely. He knelt before her countless times, weeping and pleading, yet he could not win even a single glance from her. Madness and obsession gradually took over his features. He sneered, “Fang Xiao, if you have the guts, then kill me!” The woman who once felt pain in her heart whenever she saw her beloved frown plunged a knife into him. Yang Yan’s robes were drenched in blood. He laughed like a madman. “If you kill me, then we will become the legendary emperor and empress whose tragic love will be celebrated for a thousand years throughout the halls of power.” When the person is gone, the warmth of the tea fades. Only then did Yang Yan awaken from his grand dream. He had spent his entire life fighting for power and claiming dominion over vast lands. Only at the very end did he finally understand that none of it could compare to a single day or night spent with Fang Xiao. The emperor who once looked down upon all living beings cast aside his crown and abandoned his imperial robes. With cold eyes, he watched the vast empire he had fought half his life to obtain crumble spectacularly before him. The ravages of time and hardship crushed his pride, and the passing years wore away his dignity. Yet the devout sincerity in his heart and the bone-deep remorse he carried never changed. Within the mountain temple, Fang Xiao sat in quiet meditation, her eyes half-closed as she gazed at him from afar. She watched as his former sharpness and arrogance were broken, as he shed every trace of his imperial majesty. She watched as he knelt for a long time before the temple gates, bowing his head until it nearly touched the dust. Amid swirling snow and biting wind, Yang Yan rested his forehead against the stone steps. His voice was so low it seemed to sink into the very dust beneath him. “My name is Yang Yan. I wish to ask Second Miss Fang for a marriage fortune slip once more.” — Description from novelcodex.orgFull novel: Temples Slightly Frosted with Gray — read the rest free on N​o⁠v​e⁠l​C⁠o​d⁠e​x⁠.​o⁠r​g⁠