It's an interesting book!!
Pretty good story, but some typos and mixed up names. The last two chapters are from a different story. I'd enjoy knowing what's supposed to happen.
The pacing in these chapters is honestly impressive. The author switches between Xiao Yun's perspective and Jiang Huaichu's perspective, and instead of feeling disjointed, it creates this delicious sense of dramatic irony. We see both sides of the same room, both sides of the same conversation, and we're screaming at the page for them to just RECOGNIZE each other. Chapter 4 (Xiao Yun's section) moves at a leisurely court-politics pace—discussing appointments, remembering past events, observing a stranger on the stairs. It's contemplative, almost lazy. Then Chapter 5 (Jiang Huaichu's section) hits like a freight train. The teahouse scene escalates quickly: from casual conversation with the Consort Dowager to a public confrontation with arrogant examinees, all while Xiao Yun is literally watching from above. The tension builds in real time, and the pacing accelerates naturally because the stakes are rising with each exchange. What I appreciate most is how the author uses the three-year gap as a structural device. Xiao Yun's section is essentially a flashback-triggered present—remembering the refusal memorial, discussing Xie Caiqing's arrival. Jiang Huaichu's section is pure present action with backstory woven in organically through the Consort Dowager's dialogue. The two timelines are thematically linked (the past rejection) but narratively separate, and the author is clearly building toward a moment where they'll collide. The cliffhanger-ish quality of Jiang Huaichu's teahouse speech—cut off mid-sentence—creates a natural pause that makes you want to keep reading. And the fact that Xiao Yun "curled the corner of his mouth slightly" at Jiang Huaichu's words? That tiny detail is a pacing masterstroke. It's a beat of recognition that the reader catches but the character hasn't fully processed yet.
Jade & the other characters are so funny! Adding this to my library
very interesting read. thanks
It was quite a nice read. Hope it could've been a little longer though. A more definitive conclusion perhaps...
good book, my only complaint is there's a lot of grammatical issues throughout the whole book. makes it hard to follow/understand at times.
It an interesting story, very thrilling. Give a trial!!!
when is book two
It's really an amazingly well written book
Very Interesting!!!
Such an interesting plot