The Problematic of the Unproblematic

Chapter 19 - An Interrupted Pillow Talk  written by Kakashi, edited by Bunny *some passages in this chapter are from the original novel If Feng Zhiwei was honest, moving closer to Ning Yi was not really necessary. It was warm enough where she was, in that space underneath the blanket that she shared with him, even if her right side was considerably warmer than her left that was only barely covered. Yet, she considered it. The reason was, as soon as Ning Yi had somewhat reluctantly fallen into a restless slumber, Feng Zhiwei started to feel very uneasy about the creepy place they were in. Without anything to occupy herself with as she lay idly, she became acutely aware of strange sounds echoing through the large hall, a moaning and sighing, soft, but very mournful, and when she strained her senses, she even thought she heard footsteps behind the panels. Feng Zhiwei decidedly did not like ghosts. So, when the fire in one of the basins suddenly let out a loud pop, send...

Chapter 18 - Stripping a Prince Is Hardly a Good Idea written by kakashi edited by Bunny **Note - I am going to follow the direction of novel in the next two chapters instead of the drama. Thanks to Ninja Reflection at https://ninja-reflection.com/ for the translations that I used as the inspiration for this chapter! The palace grounds were much bigger than she had ever realized, but how could Feng Zhiwei have known when she was always so busy as Wei Zhi? Or, she corrected herself mentally, how could she even have come here as Wei Zhi when this area was reserved only for the women of the harem, their royal children and their servants.

Chapter 17 - A Most Hideous Beauty written by kakashi edited by Bunny “Gu Nanyi threw him out.” “Out? What do you mean?” “Out over the wall,” Ning Cheng smirked. “Braided hair flying, arms flailing. How disgraceful!”

Chapter 16 - Stones Have Hearts Too written by kakashi edited by Bunny “Please, Headmaster,” Ning Cheng implored Ziyan tearfully, “please stop him from drinking.” This boy was always overly concerned for his Master, but this time, Ziyan was worried too. He had already been able to smell the wafts of alcohol and utter misery at the entrance to the Chu Residence. It had been days since the owner had shown his face and Headmaster Xin knew, the blow he had had to take at court against the Changs had knocked him off his feet.

Chapter 15 - Jinshi Horses eat Lunch and Dinner written by kakashi edited by Bunny “Scholar Wei!” Ning Yi called out, quickening his steps to catch up to her outside the Palace. Feng Zhiwei stopped and turned around to face him. He found it hard to read her expression today. Had she been worried at all? Or was she getting used to the endless games of intrigue played in the palace, to seeing him stagger from one deadly trap to the next.

Chapter 14 - Poison might be sweet, but medicine is always bitter written by kakashi edited by Bunny Just like one of the expensive royal hunting dogs his Father held, Ziyan had immediately gotten wind of Ning Yi’s elevated state of confusion. Not that he hadn’t teased him about “his pawn” before, only now it had ceased to be mere teasing, it had advanced into sniffing up his legs with bared teeth, ready to sink his teeth into Ning Yi’s flesh at the first sign of weakness.

Chapter 13 -Tasting a Sweetness He Never Imagined Existed written by kakashi edited by Bunny It was an entirely new experience to walk alongside Feng Zhiwei in an all relaxed manner, chatting friendly about trivial things. New but rather pleasant. Thus, Prince of Chu walked a bit slower than he usually did just so they would reach their destination a bit less quickly. “I haven't thanked Your Highness yet for the property title to keep my uncle quiet,” Feng Zhiwei said shyly.

Chapter 12 - A Moonlit Night on the Spring River written by kakashi edited by Bunny Feng Zhiwei could hear her voice carry, and it gave her more confidence to speak up so that it carried even more. It went into every corner, it touched every golden ornament in this magnificent hall, every kneeling officials’ bowed head. But there was only one person in the room she wanted her voice to give comfort to. He was next to her, his face hidden between his hands on the floor, overwhelmed with emotions, now that his dead brother Ning Qiao was no longer considered a traitor. “Since there were emperors to shepherd the commoners, they all chose their first legitimate son as the Crown Prince. To consolidate their rule, they had to be impartial. The succession of the crown must be done justly. The choosing and deposing of a Crown Prince determines a country's fate. The Crown Prince, Ning Chuan, as my first legitimate son and the Crown Prince, was taught knowledge as well as manners. B...

Chapter 11 - Getting a Father's Love is a Blessing from Heaven written by kakashi edited by bunny When his sixth son was in the room, Ning Shizheng always felt a vague sense of unease, a strange feeling like the throne he sat on suddenly got a fraction harder, the collar of his robe tightened a few inches and started chafing, or his golden headpiece wore him down with a previously unnoticed heaviness.

Chapter 10 - Taste Royal Wine and go see the God of Death  written by kakashi edited by Bunny When Feng Zhiwei stepped into Prince of Chu’s hall with her entourage of servants carrying the Emperor’s food presents behind her, she found the owner of the residence sitting on the floor like a commoner, bent over some fabric, discussing with a plain but friendly looking man how to cut and sew it.

Chapter 9 - Trapped in a Huge Web, Unable to see the Way Out written by kakashi edited by Bunny Becoming the Ultimate Scholar and being able to interact with the Emperor of Tiansheng Kingdom directly was as exhilarating as it was terrifying. Being a Hall of Zhaohua's Sixth Level Scholar! Having imperial privilege! Getting her own residence!

Chapter 8 - Promises Made so Easily, all Lies… written by kakashi edited by Bunny “Your Highness, this hair ornament is the only thing left. The hair ornament of Qingming students.” Just like that, she was gone. A charred body in a torched courtyard, neatly covered by a sheet of cloth to spare him the worst. Just like that, a pawn that could have become a queen was taken off the board by his enemies - all because he was incompetent, laughable, completely unfit to ever be more than a useless man born into the royal family by a cruel quirk of fate.

Chapter 7 - Clearing debts means making room for new ones written by kakashi edited by Bunny   There were places of comfort even in the ruthless Capital, places where a restless heart could quiet down, if only just for a moment. The weaving room in Ning Yi's residence was such a place, one he liked to sit in when time allowed, sometimes weaving, sometimes tailoring, to pretend he was just a commoner, a commoner with no bigger problems than going about his daily business. 

Chapter 6 - Of Poison, Plots and Petty Princes written by kakashi edited by Bunny “Thank you for letting me work at the House of Lanxiang, JieJie.” Feeling especially grateful on this turbulent day to have found temporary refuge at her establishment, Feng Zhiwei pressed the hand of her friend Zhuyin with fervor.

Chapter 5 - He who conquers others is strong. He who conquers himself is mighty written by kakashi edited by Bunny Feng Zhiwei opened her eyes. Where was she? It seemed to be morning and she was on a bed, only… this looked oddly familiar… The Prince of Chu’s residence? “Why am I here? Was yesterday a dream?” she murmured. “What did you do in your dream?” a languid voice she knew all too well said from nearby.

Chapter 4. All Roads lead to Prince of Chu’s Residence written by kakashi edited by Bunny Avoiding Feng Zhiwei and her cumbersome questions quickly turned into a game Ning Yi enjoyed immensely. He had other things to worry about, but Feng Zhiwei was so delightfully naive. But not only that, she was also persistent and a very fast learner, forcing him to change his strategies several times a day. Soon, he found himself waking up in the morning with his mind immediately turning to situations she could use to ambush him. That led to him designing counter strategies to throw her off successfully should such situations really arise. Excellent training, exactly what he needed to learn how to plot faster than anybody else in town.

Skin as Soft as Silk written by kakashi edited by Bunny “Ahhhh," Prince of Chu moaned against his clenched fist. He was in pain from the throbbing sword wound below his left collarbone, but now that Feng Zhiwei was applying bandages to it in the confines of a fast moving carriage, he exaggerated his suffering on purpose. He wanted to make her feel sorry for giving him such a fright and making him do uncharacteristically reckless things.

An Imposter goes Swimming  written by kakashi edited by Bunny What a fortuitous encounter, Feng Zhiwei thought, as she skipped along the street toward Master Zong‘s house, an impolite man had turned out useful to enlighten her about this Prince of Chu she was supposed to marry in her cousin’s stead.

Note: This is something between a recap and fanfiction. For the moment, it is a retelling of the original story as shown in the TV series with some bits added, exploring and developing the relationship between Ning Yi and Feng Zhiwei further. As we move along, I might start changing the story so that I can give them a sizzling romance with some skinship and a happy ending eventually. An Interesting Person (the First Encounter) written by kakashi edited by Bunny They all died because of you. You do not deserve to live such a happy life . When the sixth prince of Tiansheng Kingdom, Ning Yi left the confines of Zongzheng Temple, his nightmares followed closely behind.

kakashi: I tend to express my love for a drama through recaps, but since my plate is too full for that, I want to at least spend some time babbling about The Rise of Phoenixes outside of RAWR. I absolutely love it. (I have currently seen up to episode 23, so, if you haven't seen this far yet, be aware of spoilers and if you've seen it all, be aware of spoilering me :) My first (rather long) post is about Ning Yi.