Love Asks Not Causality

李李翔Jinjiang Literature City2012

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Word count: 64.8K words
Series: Three-Life Stone Series

Summary

Shang Guan Ying, a young lady of an official family, falls into decline when her father is convicted, and she is reduced to the entertainment house, earning a living at the Qinse Pavilion by her skill with the qin and under coercion from Lou Xinyue, her situation dire. Lan Jue comes to the Qinse Pavilion, is drawn in by her music, and secretly schemes to buy her freedom, even borrowing a huge sum from his junior fellow disciple. Shang Guan Ying, too, struggles for freedom amid the ups and downs of her fate. Meanwhile, the mystery of Lan Jue's own origins gradually surfaces: a palace kesi silk doll tiger draws out his connection to the imperial family, and the entrustment of Yu Qian's orphan and investigations by the factory guards follow one after another, drawing the two into ever more dangerous turmoil.

Editor's review

A short ancient-set romance with a light pace, in which the interaction between the leads carries a sense of cautious probing. The highlights are the heroine's fall from an official's daughter to the entertainment house and her self-rescue, along with the suspense line of the male lead's origins gradually unfolding. The weakness is that the whole text is only some sixty thousand characters and the serialization has stalled; the story stops halfway, with neither the romance nor the origin line resolved, which easily leaves followers dissatisfied.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy short ancient-set romances
Readers who prefer a heroine's perspective and devoted-love setups
Readers interested in ancient-style elements such as the entertainment house and mystery origins

Not a good fit for

Readers who insist on completed works and full endings
Readers who prefer long-form narratives

Reading tips

First understand that the work is an unfinished serialization before deciding to start.
While reading, note supporting characters such as Lou Xinyue and Yu Mian, who drive changes in the heroine's situation.
Separate Lan Jue's origin line from the romance line when sorting things out, and the main thread will be clearer.

About the publisher

Jinjiang Literature City

Jinjiang Literature City focuses on publishing online literature. Its catalog covers categories such as premium fiction, time-travel and alternate-history fiction, ancient romance, women's fiction, modern romance, and quality web fiction, reflecting a sustained interest in women-oriented reading and genre storytelling. Representative titles include Splendid Years, Where Do the Swallows of the Old Home Fly, The Starlight in My Pen Is Not as Good as You, Song of Mortals, Lin Daiyu the Great Writer, Fake Slackers, and Judge of the Soul, spanning both historical settings and contemporary themes. Authors include Lingxi Gezhu, Nanfang Chihuo, Xiaomeng Zhihuansheng, Dajiang Mingyue, Lumenke, Muguahuang, Tuige, and Ziwei Liunian, whose works often built readership through online serialization. Public information on its founding background and scale is limited, so this profile presents its publishing characteristics based only on the catalog.

FAQ

Is this book completed?

It is unfinished; Jinjiang shows it as serialized, about sixty thousand characters, with updates stopped in the early chapters.

Who are the male and female leads?

The male lead is Lan Jue; the female lead is Shang Guan Ying, an official's daughter reduced to the entertainment house because of her father's crime.

Is it part of a series?

It belongs to the author's Three-Life Stone series, whose theme is that love asks not causality and fate binds three lives.

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About the author

李李翔 Author

Li Lixiang is a Chinese author about whom limited public information is available; what can be confirmed comes mainly from her nine published works. Judging from representative titles such as Ten Years of Ignorance, a Hundred Years of Heart, First Love Like This, Love, Approximately, and The Tale of a Fallen City, as well as No Flower, No Rose, Can You Hear My Heart Beating, and You and I Kiss Goodbye, together with their common categorizations, her writing focuses largely on youth literature and modern romance, and also touches on time-travel and alternate-world themes. Her works often center on emotional relationships, and several have been issued in multiple volumes or as two-part sets. Since her dates of birth and death, nationality, and educational background are not clearly recorded, details of her life are difficult to verify, and readers' understanding of her remains based mainly on the novels themselves.