Ratings6
Average rating4.3
It is year twenty-five of the Yuantai Era of the Great Zhou Empire. The renowned Marquis of Jingning, commander of the Beiyan Cavalry, Fu Shen is injured on the battlefield at the northern border. Returning with a broken leg to the capital, Fu Shen learns that the emperor has conferred a marriage for him—with another man. To make matters worse, Fu Shen’s spouse is his political nemesis: the famed Imperial Investigator of the Feilong Guard, Yan Xiaohan.
In spite of the political differences that stand between them in court, Fu Shen and Yan Xiaohan gradually start to accept each other’s presence in their shared home. Yet as they learn to navigate their new life together, it is the calm before the storm. The mystery behind the attack at the northern border begins to unfold, unveiling dangers that threaten the peace of Great Zhou.
Featured Series
2 primary booksGolden Terrace is a 2-book series with 2 primary works first released in 2022 with contributions by Cang Wu Bin Bai, 苍梧宾白, and E. Danglars.
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This was a fun reread. I remember reading the fan translation of this book more than a year ago and it was an instant addiction to my best of the year lists. So when I realized it was getting an official English translation published, I had to preorder it. And they are just such gorgeous copies.
This translation is really done well. There are so many beautiful and poetic lines which I wanted to highlight but I haven't been feeling well, so didn't have the energy to annotate. But it's been months since I've actually picked up a book or kindle (without an audiobook), so even the fact that I picked this book and read it in 2 days despite not feeling not too well health wise shows how much I love this story and the YanFu couple.
This first volume is mostly about us getting to know the characters and them getting married and falling in love, and it's all very very romantic and beautiful and it's easy for us readers to just not want to stop reading about them. The political machinations haven't really started in full gear yet but we see the setup going on and I'm frankly dreading reading the second volume despite this being a reread. It's gonna be full on political maneuvering and I just hate my favorite characters facing hardships. But I'll probably read it next because I don't think I am yet prepared to tackle new fantasy worlds.