The Archduke's Songbird - Chapter 80: Blooming Relationship

The eminent Jincheng Jiang Family adopted two sisters, the younger sister Jiang Fanyue was sensible and gracious, talented and beautiful, while the elder sister Jiang Zhe was ignorant, unaccomplished in anything.When their destitute biological family came knocking, the Jiang Family couldn't wait to pack Jiang Zhe off and keep Jiang Fanyue; the family wealth, reputation, the status of being the heiress, the fiancé—all henceforth had nothing to do with Jiang Zhe.Jiang Zhe stepped into her own family's home, her eyes full of skepticism. Could the precious Tang Dynasty painting on the wall be authentic? Were the bowls used for serving vegetables and soup made from the unique material of gilded cloisonné?What happened to the so-called impoverished family?What, there's also a top-tier fiancé from a leading Beijing family?Can she call off the engagement?The magnate cornered her against the wall, pulling her into his embrace, “What do you think, Madam?”“I'm so poor in studies I fail everything, I don't deserve to join an affluent family.”The magnate pulled out her perfect-score college entrance exam paper.“I'm good for nothing, incapable of everything.”The magnate lifted the veil off her identities as a Divine Doctor, designer, hacker, composer... and so on.He tenderly quipped, “I'll work hard, to prove myself worthy of you, Madam.”【Since my childhood, I have been without desires or demands, but the moment I laid eyes on you, for that brief second, I prayed to the gods and Buddhas—I yearned for you—Qin Jingchen.】

Betrayed by her own family, Ye Ningwan is wed to the notorious “blind” warlord Zhan Hanjue—everyone expects her corpse to be carried out within days. Instead, three days later she struts back to the Ye gates draped in priceless gifts.Ye elders salivate; she smiles sweetly: “Only looking allowed—I’m taking these home. After all, you gave me zero dowry.”“Insolent!” they cry.Zhan Hanjue steps in, voice frosted steel: “She’s mine now. Protecting her is my pleasure.”Later, Ye Ningwan stammers, “You’re… not blind?”He tugs her close, whisper hot against her ear: “Play along, my queen, and I’ll give you the world—starting with my heart.”

After years of exile, Marcus is coming back home. A powerful mage with few equals, Marcus lives in a world full of monsters and powerful adepts, many of which have bad histories with him. But he has not come back to pursue vengeance or start a fight. All Marcus wants to do is reconnect with old friends, build himself a house, and maybe train a successor or two.Alas, the world didn’t stop just because Marcus went into exile, and not everyone is content to let go of old grievances. Strange things are happening in the world at large, too, hinting at a looming disaster of unknown nature. Still, where there is a will, there is a way.If nothing else, Marcus has a lot of magical power to throw at problems.+++Zenith of Sorcery is set in its own original setting and isn’t related to Mother of Learning… beyond being written by the same person, of course. This is a more classical fantasy story than my previous one, with a lower level of technology and stuff like elves and dwarves, but it has a lot of worldbuilding effort put into it and its own complex magical system. The story has significant xianxia influences, but isn’t meant to be a xianxia story.For those of you not familiar with my previous work, I write relatively slowly. I intend to publish chapters at the rate of one chapter every three or four weeks, subject to further delays as life intervenes.