Tune of the Wild Geese
Beautiful and clever Yan Qiu Yue is the treasured only daughter of Duke Ning’s household. Her family could not bear to part with her, so she has reached the ripe old age of 17 without even once hearing the word “marriage.”
The scheming emperor, uncaring of the Yan family’s bonds, decrees her betrothal to the only son of Prince Rui of the First Rank. This son is known across Eastern Wei for being a callous wastrel-in-training, but before Qiu Yue has time to mourn her lack of luck, shocking news reaches the capital: Prince Rui’s real heir was switched at birth and has since grown up in the Northern Xi territory! His return to the capital is met with much fanfare and curiosity.
To show some goodwill to this supposedly long-suffering Wei Tian Ao, the emperor allows a new interpretation of his betrothal decree so that he, the legitimate son of Prince Rui, may marry the noble Yan Qiu Yue! But why does Qiu Yue's new husband seem rather unhappy with this whole arrangement? The weeks after their wedding go by without her seeing even Wei Tian Ao's shadow. Might this turn out even worse for her than if she’d married that wastrel…?
“I trust no one in this city of schemers and murderers, least of all a wife whose character and family are unknown to me!”
“You are surprisingly eloquent for a northern barbarian, my lord.”
“If I never see you, I don't have to acknowledge that you exist…”
“Go ahead and hide if you dare! Even without you, I am still a noble princess heir apparent.”
(Updates at least 2-3 times a week.)
** The cover art was commissioned from artist Huixci just for TWG and features Yan Qiu Yue and Wei Hong Sheng. **
Reveal Spoiler
Obviously the story is still pretty early in its development, but given this caveat, there's still enought of content to judge, and so far it's been really excellent. The heroine is such a fresh character, feeling genuinely young but not too childish, naive and sheltered but not dumb. A little self-centered in a way that a lot of teens are, but still compassionate. She feels human, is what I'm saying. Both male leads are different and fun in their own right. Tian Ao deserves better. Wei Hong Sheng is a lot of fun and the kind of character that just asks for being dissected in long meta posts. Add to that great relationship between siblings (I love family dynamics!!!!) and a very nice scaling of intrigues YQY encounters (starting with something small and inconsequential, sth that could bother only young high society ladies and ends up with a plot that's a life or death, fate of entire country kind of situation), and it's a very very good read. It's also highly accessible to readers who have limited knowledge of ancient China/cnovel conventions, explaining a lot of things in a natural manner (my own previous experience with fiction set in ancient China ends on Female General Eldest Princess webnovel and The Untamed + Oh My General dramas, so it's not too big).
This story is great! There is great character developement wothouy falling into the typical tropes and cliches! I love that each character, including side a secondary ones have their own unique personalities and developement as well! It feels well rounded and i cant wait for more!