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Deng Hua Xiao
Lu Tong went to the mountains to study medicine for seven years. When she returned home, she discovered that things had changed.
Her older sister was harmed by others and died,
Her older brother was put in jail full of injustices,
Her father went to the capital to voice his grievances, but encountered a flood along the way,
Her mother went crazy overnight and died in a fire.
Lu Tong packed up her medicine box and went to fight in Jingzhou.
Pay back your debts with coin, pay back your mu*ders with your life!
If there is no judge, I will be King Yan!
***
One after another, the noble families in the capital encountered troubles.
The commander of the Imperial Guard, Pei Yunying, secretly investigated the matter. A female doctor at Renxin Medical Center became his main suspect.
However…
Before he could find any evidence, she took action against him.
1.127 million words
Her older sister was harmed by others and died,
Her older brother was put in jail full of injustices,
Her father went to the capital to voice his grievances, but encountered a flood along the way,
Her mother went crazy overnight and died in a fire.
Lu Tong packed up her medicine box and went to fight in Jingzhou.
Pay back your debts with coin, pay back your mu*ders with your life!
If there is no judge, I will be King Yan!
***
One after another, the noble families in the capital encountered troubles.
The commander of the Imperial Guard, Pei Yunying, secretly investigated the matter. A female doctor at Renxin Medical Center became his main suspect.
However…
Before he could find any evidence, she took action against him.
1.127 million words
Unknown Binding
First published July 19, 2024
11 people are currently reading
65 people want to read
About the author
Qian Shan Cha Ke
90 books84 followersDue to the duplication of this author's English name "Jiang Yu", the name needs to have two spaces between names: Jiang^^Yu
Associated Names:
* 千山茶客 / 姜钰 (Chinese)
* Qian Shan Cha Ke / Jiang Yu (English)
* เชียนซานฉาเค่อ (Thai)
Associated Names:
* 千山茶客 / 姜钰 (Chinese)
* Qian Shan Cha Ke / Jiang Yu (English)
* เชียนซานฉาเค่อ (Thai)
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
February 9, 2025
You Should Read This If You Like: heartless and cold heroines, romance where the idea of foreplay is two people with insane chemistry trying to outwit and kill each other, slow and meticulous revenge plots, slowest of slow burn romances.
By now it is not surprising that I’ve, once again, fallen in love with a book from Qian Shan Cha Ke. The story opens on a prologue where the heroine, as a little girl, is caught along with her family in the midst of a plague epidemic. In order to save their lives she seeks help from a mysterious traveling doctor dressed in red. The woman, a poisoner, promises to help the heroine’s family but in exchange she must sell herself to the doctor as an apprentice. But this is no cute story about a benevolent doctor taking pity on a child and helping them out of purely altruistic reasons. It is a devil’s bargain and the start of a nightmare where the heroine is trafficed by a poison doctor and taken to the mountains to raise/ experiment on.
The story begins with the heroine coming down the mountain for the first time in 7 years only to find her family has been wiped out completely. She then begins to investigate the cause and effect and starts on her journey of revenge.
This book is a slight departure from Qian Shan Cha Ke's usual books because it isn't a rebirth novel. There is no second chance, no going back to fix or change past events, no fork in the road to diverge from. The damage that happens at the beginning of the book (mentioned in the premise) is real and permanent. And so it is understandable that our heroine is slightly (maybe a lot) unhinged because of it. While it is not a contest (or is it) this might be Cha ke’s most damaged/ruthless heroine??
The couple is also one of my favorites because they are like two predators locking eyes and waiting for the other to blink! The chemistry is off the charts. To those who claim this book has no romance, clearly outwitting your enemy, playing cat and mouse, multiple counts of attempted murder, etc isn't your idea of foreplay. If you like real enemies to lovers who are willing to slit the other’s throat to achieve their goals, before reluctantly giving into admiration, to then forming a tentative friendship, that slowly blossoms into the ride or die kind of love? Then this is for you. 5 stars for a rollicking good fun time!
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Finally done! I'm going to miss these characters so much! 5 stars. Rtc
By now it is not surprising that I’ve, once again, fallen in love with a book from Qian Shan Cha Ke. The story opens on a prologue where the heroine, as a little girl, is caught along with her family in the midst of a plague epidemic. In order to save their lives she seeks help from a mysterious traveling doctor dressed in red. The woman, a poisoner, promises to help the heroine’s family but in exchange she must sell herself to the doctor as an apprentice. But this is no cute story about a benevolent doctor taking pity on a child and helping them out of purely altruistic reasons. It is a devil’s bargain and the start of a nightmare where the heroine is trafficed by a poison doctor and taken to the mountains to raise/ experiment on.
The story begins with the heroine coming down the mountain for the first time in 7 years only to find her family has been wiped out completely. She then begins to investigate the cause and effect and starts on her journey of revenge.
This book is a slight departure from Qian Shan Cha Ke's usual books because it isn't a rebirth novel. There is no second chance, no going back to fix or change past events, no fork in the road to diverge from. The damage that happens at the beginning of the book (mentioned in the premise) is real and permanent. And so it is understandable that our heroine is slightly (maybe a lot) unhinged because of it. While it is not a contest (or is it) this might be Cha ke’s most damaged/ruthless heroine??
The couple is also one of my favorites because they are like two predators locking eyes and waiting for the other to blink! The chemistry is off the charts. To those who claim this book has no romance, clearly outwitting your enemy, playing cat and mouse, multiple counts of attempted murder, etc isn't your idea of foreplay. If you like real enemies to lovers who are willing to slit the other’s throat to achieve their goals, before reluctantly giving into admiration, to then forming a tentative friendship, that slowly blossoms into the ride or die kind of love? Then this is for you. 5 stars for a rollicking good fun time!
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Finally done! I'm going to miss these characters so much! 5 stars. Rtc
July 12, 2025
5 stars
qian shan cha ke you have outdone yourself once again… rtc
qian shan cha ke you have outdone yourself once again… rtc
May 4, 2025
Deng Hua Xiao (aka Smiling Under Lanterns)
A Chinese novel of 252 chapters where the female main character seeks to take revenge for the tragic deaths of her family members. Her path crosses multiple times with the handsome and cold palace guard commander who has family issues of his own. Both characters are written well. They are quick witted and highly intelligent. They play a real life cat-and-mouse chess game with each trying to stay one step ahead of the other. Both have hidden agendas focused on their goals but get sidetracked by each other. The relationship between them slowly builds as the trust builds. The palace infighting is mostly in the background as steps towards revenge is in the forefront. The novel closes well with the last two chapters filling the plot holes.
A Chinese novel of 252 chapters where the female main character seeks to take revenge for the tragic deaths of her family members. Her path crosses multiple times with the handsome and cold palace guard commander who has family issues of his own. Both characters are written well. They are quick witted and highly intelligent. They play a real life cat-and-mouse chess game with each trying to stay one step ahead of the other. Both have hidden agendas focused on their goals but get sidetracked by each other. The relationship between them slowly builds as the trust builds. The palace infighting is mostly in the background as steps towards revenge is in the forefront. The novel closes well with the last two chapters filling the plot holes.
August 31, 2024
The author really made me doubt that they were going to have happy ending or not.
July 14, 2025
i need this book to be finished translated already 😭
read the mtl so worth it
read the mtl so worth it
August 27, 2025
A must read if you enjoy a main character who suffers, a male lead who also suffers, and main characters who make others suffer.
A girl's got to take revenge when she loses everyone she cares about. Listened to the full audiobook front to end, but unfortunately forgot to write down my thoughts when I finished so these are a bit loose, but I remember being hooked to my phone when I was listening and pulling multiple all nighters.
The themes are tight and consistent (socioeconomic disparity, corruption, the common people), the mysteries and revenge plot line were engaging and stayed the main focus of the book while the background romance was fun (rare!! for me to think that). A true enemies to lovers where the main characters do try to kill each other in the beginning of the book, but slowly start plotting together when they realize their goals align. The only slow part was when Lu Tong waffles a lot on whether or not she likes Pei Yun Ying, but it made sense with her character setting and growth. All the character had journeys that were satisfying and made sense with how they were set up.
A girl's got to take revenge when she loses everyone she cares about. Listened to the full audiobook front to end, but unfortunately forgot to write down my thoughts when I finished so these are a bit loose, but I remember being hooked to my phone when I was listening and pulling multiple all nighters.
The themes are tight and consistent (socioeconomic disparity, corruption, the common people), the mysteries and revenge plot line were engaging and stayed the main focus of the book while the background romance was fun (rare!! for me to think that). A true enemies to lovers where the main characters do try to kill each other in the beginning of the book, but slowly start plotting together when they realize their goals align. The only slow part was when Lu Tong waffles a lot on whether or not she likes Pei Yun Ying, but it made sense with her character setting and growth. All the character had journeys that were satisfying and made sense with how they were set up.
October 18, 2024
Close to a 4.5 for me, I just thought the last quarter of the book was a little weak compared to the build up we got. I had a lot of fun while reading it though, compared to other books I really like the FL.
I had the time of my life reading the interaction and banter between the leads which is why I was disappointed by the last quarter (I saw that because it’s a loonggg journey from the birthday chapter)
I really like our FL in this one because compared to the other books by this author, the FL here doesn’t have any noble family connection (even as a shell). We’ve also got a found family trope with the people at the shop. I adore them!!! (And the palace troops of the ML lmao) Probably the first book by this author that’s made me laugh so much.
I had the time of my life reading the interaction and banter between the leads which is why I was disappointed by the last quarter (I saw that because it’s a loonggg journey from the birthday chapter)
I really like our FL in this one because compared to the other books by this author, the FL here doesn’t have any noble family connection (even as a shell). We’ve also got a found family trope with the people at the shop. I adore them!!! (And the palace troops of the ML lmao) Probably the first book by this author that’s made me laugh so much.
October 15, 2025
just when i thought shen miao was ruthless... lu tong was even more ruthless than shen miao in doing her revenge. what's more interesting is this is not a rebirth story, so she depended on her resources and knowledge only to carry on her revenge. and this is when she met pei yunying, and found out that their goals somewhat aligned. the romance is truly on the slow burn side, but that's okay because i'm here to witness lu tong's scheme. when she was put in a predicament as soon as she entered the imperial medical office, and the medical officers before her didn't have the chance to escape, she really said. i Will create my own opportunity to get out and prosper to continue my revenge. she's actually really cool for that. and i loved how she rejected pei yunying's help most of the times lol bc Clearly she can do it on her own.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 29, 2025
Lu Tong bener2 jenius as ahli pengobatan dan racun. Dia dingin dan kejam dlm balas dendam. ortu dan saudara nya meninggal di bunuh pejabat berkuasa. Dengan bantuan Pen Yuanhuan dia bisa banyak ngebunuh musuh2 nya tanpa di ketahui. Mr. Pei jg suka flirting ke Lu Tong. Ada jg ttg KK perempuan Mr. Pei yg udah janda dab punya anak 1 yg akhir nya jadian sama sahabat nya Mr. Pei. So far bagus banget sih buku2 nya mba Qian ini walau bab nya hampir 250 an.
September 2, 2024
romance is close to non existent...i've been very patient but nada
September 3, 2024
3.5 stars
March 9, 2025
Great book as usual
Story is somewhat mellow
But I really loved the characters.
A revenge story where the MC is fully focused on her revenge until she was done.
Story is somewhat mellow
But I really loved the characters.
A revenge story where the MC is fully focused on her revenge until she was done.
November 20, 2025
Lu Tong is my girl.
The author's writing has improved so much from her earlier novels
The author's writing has improved so much from her earlier novels
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews