Within The Sound of Swallows

At the tender age of five, Shen Guiyan could recite the Thousand Character Classic from memory; at the age of six, she could already play guqin and even composed her own melodies; at the age of seven, she could write a full poem and finish it in the brief time it took for the incense stick to burn; and by the time she turned eight, she was already betrothed to the son of the Prime Minister.

Everyone said that she was born with Phoenix Jade* in her mouth— destined for greatness from the very start.

However, fate took a cruel turn.

A woman from the modern era arrived and transformed Shen Guiyan’s once-brash younger sister into someone sharp and clever. She stole her fiancé, harmed her birth mother, and ruthlessly pulled her down from the heavens. Laughing arrogantly, she sneered, “How can a mere woman from the feudal era ever compete with a modern woman of the 21st century?”

Schemes and trickery altered her predestined fate, a pregnant belly destroyed her marriage prospects, and she was forced to marry a spoiled and troublemaking son of a noble, who brought ruin upon her on her supposed wedding night. And yet,  by some strange twist of fate, it inadvertently led her to the most extraordinary encounter with her fated one.

A crazy monk once read her fortune: a great calamity at the coming of age, a great joy at the age of twenty, and a great sorrow in old age.

Shen Guiyan did not believe in fate. She only believed that with human determination, one could even overcome destiny.

Those who took from her, she would make sure they would pay! Those who harmed her, she would make sure they would burn in the pits of hell! 

So what if you have traveled through time? So what if you have been reborn?

Even if you have eight or ten golden fingers**, I would chop them all up for you!

I would be coming for you, no matter what!

*born with Phoenix Jade in her mouth – this symbolizes a noble or auspicious birth, often implying destiny, luck, or even divine favor.

**golden fingers – Chinese slang for cheat-like powers, or supernatural advantages