Rating: 4.5/5
" It was my fault that your fate became incomplete and full of suffering. There is nothing I can do to make up to you but this; giving up all of my cultivation to trade for one lifetime where you can have black hair again... "
There is so much to unpack about this book, but at the same time story is very simple, when you throw out the politics out of the window.
Jing Beiyuan is a man who lived through many lives, through many forms and was always killed by the love of his life Helian Yi. No matter how many times he was killed, he never drank meng po soup in order to forget his past lives.
He spent so many years in afterlife that at some point, his hair became completely white.
But the last life he got returned him to the point of time of his first life, when he was still young, still human and able to change things and when his hair was still black.
Jing Beiyuan, also known as Jing Qi, is also a prince with different surname. Helian Yi is, however, a crown prince and his throne is being eyed by his two older brothers Helian Zhao and Helian Qi.
In the past, Jing Beiyuan set a path and cleared the way for Helian Yi to claim the throne, but it all backfired when Helian Yi decided to kill him.
At first he wanted to do nothing and waste away so Helian Yi would not have a reason to kill him in this life, but everything changed when unknown factor - Wu Xi, a hostage prince/young sorcerer from Nanjing - was sent to their capital and changed entire course of history and future that Jing Beiyuan knew.
And so, Jing Beiyuan decides to satisfy his curiousity by becoming friends with Wu Xi, who is surrounded by a lot of poisonous animals, who has magic that is beyond their comprehending and who is after all.... Alone. Alone in Jby's country, with only his people.
Alone, like Jing Beiyuan with his thoughts.
Jing Beiyuan is so clever, so smart and so cunning and ruthless. He's overly protective but he also loves to trick, to mock and have fun.
Wu Xi is restrained, mostly afraid of new environment but still stands proudly and doesn't bend his back. He relents when he has to, but he also has a curious nature, and for now Jing Beiyuan is the only he can trust.
This book is very linear, very satisfying, very clear and comprehensible. The translation is top notch and wonderful and the story flows smoothly.
You won't feel bored in any chapter.
This is slow burn romance and not a love triangle, despite seeming this way.
>OVERALL RATINGS:
β Main characters: highly unique, wonderful, they will knife you hard and make you happy and proud.
β Side characters: well developed, could be better, but Helian Yi is the only one with biggest focus so far.
β Story: clear, linear and smooth. No overall world saving or similar but it is a story of finding someone. To not thread your life alone forever. It's a system of reward to a soul that has almost withered away, and a story of a soul determined to correct the injustice.
β Humor AND angst: you will feel sad because Jing Beiyuan didn't lead a happy life. Ever. And yet you will laugh at their shenanigans.