Gods should never meddle in the affairs of mortals, but Xie Lian is not one to follow the rules when lives are at risk. He spits in the face of heaven and its laws and descends in a fury to save his country from drought and civil war. Yet this golden child gets a harsh dose of reality when he discovers just how little one individual—even a god—can do to save a crumbling nation. As the people reject and betray him, one young soldier stands by Xie Lian—a boy with a face wrapped in bandages and a fierce loyalty in his heart. In this chaotic past, can an unshakable bond grow from the ashes of unimaginable destruction?

​​​Characters and Plot

So... I sign up for vibe and romance... WHY AM I GETTING EMOTIONAL DAMAGE!!?? Xie Lian, my poor baby, come here Imma hug you. That backstory was brutal as hell.... like genuinely depressing, what was that??? The fact that he stopped believing in himself, and no one besides Feng Xin and Mu Qing was helping him... Genuinely, it was so painful to read. I want the flashback to be over. Then we cut to Qi Rong, and he's growing on me.

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As a Qi Rong hater in the last book, he's so DAMN FUNNY THIS BOOK, LIKE HIS INSULT TO XIE LIAN'S COOKING WAS DIABOLICAL. Just make me think how bad Xie Lian's cooking is for Qi Rong to react like that... Hua Cheng is eating it happily; now that's true love there. Hua Cheng sends up 3000 LANTERNS for Xie Lian so that he will beat everyone in the heaven realms for the count of Blessing Lanterns, now that's a real man. And the play during the ceremony, where it shows Hua Cheng being kind towards Xie Lian and every official thinking it's a romantic drama, I was on the floor laughing. 

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That underwater kiss... OMG, I USED TO DREAM OF TIMES LIKE THIS. It was so peak, and Xie Lian had gay panic afterward, absolute cinema. I know Hua Cheng is screaming and panicking internally. Can we also talk about how Jun Wu has a sword that can detect your virginity... what... why... how? 

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Shi Qingxuan is the GOAT, the DIVA, the ultimate BESTIE, the way he was defending Xie Lian left and right, peak, absolute peak. Also, he's so funny :)) TGCF is the perfect example of balancing plot and romance, and the storyline is so well crafted, with plot twists you would never see coming, but once they're revealed, it just makes sense, and you realize the author had dropped hints before. The characters are endearing, and Xie Lian is so complex, going through all those horrible things and still managing to be kind. 

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