Clear and Muddy Loss of Love, Vol. 1

Clear and Muddy Loss of Love #1

by Qing Jun Mo Xiao, 请君莫笑, melts (Translator)

A natural moat called the Luo river split the great land into two: Jing of the north, and Wei of the south.

One was a Prince of the grass plains who had no worries or sorrow. One was a lawful Princess who received exclusive favour of the Emperor.

A war turned the Prince of the grass plains into an orphan. Hidden away for a decade, she had plans to become a sycophantic official, manipulating the enemy kingdom into chaos, only to find herself appointed as Fuma at the Chionglin banquet.

She must find another way to make them pay.

Genres: Lesbian, Queer, LGBT, Fantasy, Romance, Historical Fiction, Light Novel

418 pages, Paperback

Published November 11, 2025

About the author

Associated Names:
* 请君莫笑 (Chinese)

Reviews

[Izabella 🪐]

So so happy to see this will be published as a physical book because as I have discovered, I struggle to read books online (excluding my constant companion and bestie ao3 ofc) 😩😩

[Sava (Fang Runin’s version)]

Go lesbians go

[Ebbie]

Hey, so Monogatari Novels and Bloved Publishing just shat on everything and started some petty fight. This title as well as other are indefinitely on hold. Considering the foolishness, I'm not holding my breath for them "releasing" the license, even if this goes on forever.

I'm absolutely FURIOUS about this. We are lucky enough that official chinese light novels translations have been gaining traction for a little over 2 yrs, but baihe were not really on the radar much. I'm pissed two of the more famous baihe got screwed over by childish tantrums. I was ready to throw my money at those books without asking questions. But now? Even if this get resolved after legal proceedings, I might get into the pettiness train and just serve them a fuck off, keep my money, and support the series otherwise. Trust is a major thing when you run a business, and both of these publishers lost mine.

I don't know super well how licensing works, but if I was the author and had some kind of say in it, I would break ties with both of these a-holes. I'm sure other publishers would be interested. I'm sorry for the translators and artists that worked on these projects as well. Seriously, wtf.

[yen nguyen]

I don't have the mental fortitude to read 4000 pages because of my binger mindset but 4000 pages across multiple books? hell yeah

[han ❋]

YASSS GO MGA BADING 😍

[Anna Mendonca · Rating 5 out of 5]

They remind me of beefleaf (hopefully not as tragic as them either)

[Michala · Rating 5 out of 5]

Clear and Muddy Loss of Love, volume 1

I received an Advance Reader Copy of this book to review and promote. My opinions are honest and my own.

“People of the grass plains had naturally keen senses, and Qi Yan was even more perceptive than average. She had been careful with every step ever since she entered the Wei kingdom. She was vigilant at every moment. However, she did not notice Nangong Jingnu when she came over! Such a situation only occurred with her [family]. No! It’s absolutely not like that.”

As someone who's always on the lookout for GL in the realm of manga/webcomics/webnovels but doesn't find a whole lot garnered to my tastes, I'm so glad that this BLoved/Monagatari has picked up this Baihe for English release (along with Female General & Eldest Princess—which I will be reading next!) I've adored MXTX's historical-fantasy-cultivator-type stories, so I'm ultra-pleased that this novel fills the hole those stories have left! And with Female leads! And GL!!

I do love a romance, but I'm so much more invested when there's a deeper plot it goes with. Knowing very little about this webnovel, I was absolutely shocked by the heavy subject matter that leads the main character, Qi Yan, on her revenge mission that drives the story.

Though before getting to that turning point in the novel, I did feel the early-life lead-up was a bit slow and the writing (which I’ll mention later) was a bit rough in a few (maybe nit-picky) ways. Yet, I was later surprised I ended up enjoying having the information about her life and society up front. It's a give-and-take when doing exposition versus jumping into the action, and both have their benefits. But when first reading Heaven Official's Blessing, I did often find myself confused, which is not a problem with this novel, despite some of the buildup being a touch boring at times.

Now onto some of my favorite things about this novel!

The characters are so well written, the author writes them all with clear motives—and while some of them are far from spotless or righteous—in the author notes she says that none of them are meant to be viewed as wholly evil either. I really like that, they all feel three-dimensional. Like how the Qi Yan has no empathy for the emperor, yet the emperor still has valid admiration from other characters (and in turn they disregard his transgressions).

I also love the trope of secret identity, and it's just the right amount of tension with it. The main character has to hide that she's a girl from the time that she's born, so it's nothing new for her when the stakes are raised for her mission. Qi Yan's even temperament doesn't add constant anxiety for me as a reader but keeps me invested and concerned for her.

There is a misunderstanding trope, but I feel as though it’s a needed addition for some internal conflict for the princess's otherwise easy life and straightforward personality.

Speaking of the Princess (love interest), both main characters are pretty young when they meet—and with a not-insignificant age gap. Yet I feel like the romance is nice and mild right now and very slow-burn. I won’t spoil much, but forced proximity definitely validates their budding friendship/relationship.

Before wrapping up, I will briefly mention the gripe I have with some of the writing (translation, more accurately perhaps) itself. There’s a lot of use of modifiers for verbs, for example: several times there's the use of "he snorted coldly", when I feel like "scoffed" or “sneered” could be more direct. Of course there's nothing particularly wrong with the first, but there tends to be a heavy presence of that "did this—that way" type of description, so more elaborate single word descriptors could balance out the writing. Hopefully, there will be a little more editing before the regular release of this volume. To be fair, though, that’s just my opinion—and my noticing of things like that which took me out of the flow lessened more and more the further into this volume I got.

To sum up, I am absolutely invested in this novel! I’m obsessed with Qi Yan and her journey and am eagerly awaiting the release of the second volume!! (I feel pains in my stomach when I think of how long I may have to wait lol). A strong 5 stars from me, and I hope you’ll read it, love it, and support the release of more Baihe!!

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has changed my life for many different reasons. Whether its from how the author explores the dynamics between the main character and other characters, the setup of each new setting, the pain the main character, Qiyan Agula, goes through to overcomes her challenges throughout the book, how Qiyan comes to know, hate, and eventually love the love interest... Clear and Muddy Loss of Love is a book I would gladly want reread many times and I would enjoy the book equally with each new reread. Some warnings for people who would like to know: it is a very politics heavy book, yes there's action but it doesn't happen as often because of Qi Yan's role in the book and her relationship with the love interest. Another warning would be that this is a dark book. From the heavy plotlines to the heart wrenching main couple, this book will have you closing it for a second out of shock. This though, is another part of the reason this book is as good as it is. You get close to the characters and understand their feelings and why they do what they do, you can see how the main character chooses each new path to achieve her final goal. Getting heavily immersed in this book is easy because of how the author draws you in and shows you the world. (Oh btw there are many characters so it might be hard to keep track of who's doing what in the first read because of the plethora of different characters)

[lizardlynx]

Історія про помсту. Вони для мене всі виглядають однаково. В голові уявляю китайський серіал на 40 епізодів з крутою гг і купою страждань.

[Lian · Rating 3 out of 5]

kinda dull till now
( I want angst gimme angst )

[flanprinz · Rating 5 out of 5]

God i love them . my ideal slow burn scenario

[lily ⊹ ₊ ⁺ · Rating 5 out of 5]

₊˚ପ⊹ • ➵ 5/5 ✧

09/02/2024 - so excited for the cover debut !!