Review #567
I think I’d rate this a 4.4/5 stars but I’m still processing.
Xishi’s beauty is seen as a blessing to the villagers of Yue—convinced that the best fate for a girl is to marry well and support her family. When Xishi draws the attention of the famous young military advisor, Fanli, he presents her with a rare opportunity: to use her beauty as a weapon. One that could topple the rival neighboring kingdom of Wu, improve the lives of her people, and avenge her sister’s murder. All she has to do is infiltrate the enemy palace as a spy, seduce their immoral king, and weaken them from within.
Trained by Fanli in everything from classical instruments to concealing emotion, Xishi hones her beauty into the perfect blade. But she knows Fanli can see through every deception she masters, the attraction between them burning away any falsehoods.
Once inside the enemy palace, Xishi finds herself under the hungry gaze of the king’s advisors while the king himself shows her great affection. Despite his gentleness, a brutality lurks and Xishi knows she can never let her guard down. But the higher Xishi climbs in the Wu court, the farther she and Fanli have to fall—and if she is unmasked as a traitor, she will bring both kingdoms down.
Here’s my random ramblings while reading:
Absolutely loved the prose and vibe of the first chapter. And she already has agency and I’m rooting for her character.
I usually don’t like themes based on revenge or striking inhuman beauty or presenting a bride to a man yet none of these are bothering me because of how much I like it so far.
The words crimson and sharp are being used way too often.
At the halfway point I want more scenes with Zhengdan.
I don’t like that a whole year passes mid chapter. It’s not even a separate chapter start!
So the ending was surprising and I loved Liang’s creativity about handling that. This wasn’t my usual read because there was no magic or fantasy element. So I’m unsure how to classify this genre.