酌鹿

by 绿野千鹤, Lv Ye Qian He (Editor)

古籍烬，道卒崩，鹿璃一出天下兴，争，争，争。 万骨枯，天子令，不负皇恩负君情，命，命，命。 林信给皇家做了一辈子屠刀，心狠手辣，从不后悔，唯一遗憾的是到死也没得到沈楼的心。重活一世，他决定装乖卖巧，好好把沈楼哄到手。 沈楼给天下做了一辈子楷模，清心寡欲，从不逾矩，唯一出格的是喜欢上了林信那个魔头。重活一世，他决定抛开世俗，早早把林信骗进门。

Paperback

Published August 1, 2021

About the author

Associated Names:
* Lu Ye Qian He (English)
* 绿野千鹤 / 綠野千鶴 (Chinese)
* ลวี่เหยี่ยเชียนเฮ่อ (Thai)

Reviews

[Dianna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Romanized name: Zhuolu

3.5 stars rounded up to 4

I picked this up because I'm a sucker for a good rebirth story, and it's not often I come across stories where both main characters are reborn with memories. I was super excited when I started, but that enthusiasm gradually wore off as I started reading. I don't know whether it's an issue with the translation or whether the author's writing is hard to follow (I suspect both but more of the latter), it was hard for me to follow along.

For example, sometimes the narrative will randomly jump to a flashback of their previous lives and it takes me a while to figure out we're in the past. Also, initially the author would just throw random statements in about their previous lives that sound really important but not give much clarity about it (i.e. how the MC's master died, why his parents were killed, etc.), so I was constantly confused until these points were explained later.

However, eventually once we got past all that, the novel becomes easier to follow as each point that caused confusion earlier is explained, and I got more invested in the characters and the story. The story wraps up very nicely with all of my questions answered as well, including how/why the rebirth happened, so that's why I'm rounding my rating up to 4 stars.

The MC of the story is Lin Xin, the emperor's loyal lackey in his previous life known for being vicious to the point of killing his own master. He had a tumultuous relationship with the ML, Shen Lou, and even though they had a physical relationship, it was very much a love/hate relationship with very little sweetness and honesty.

In this life, Shen Lou was reborn first and is determined to make it up to Lin Xin by finding and taking care of him earlier. He wants to try and "fix" the mistakes from their previous life so that Lin Xin can live nicely without being branded with a terrible reputation. I won't go into all the details here, but initially their relationship is good right off the bat as each tries to win the other over without realizing the truth of the other's rebirth. The author doesn't keep us in suspense for too long and they realize relatively quickly about the double rebirth, due to a slip up from Lin Xin.

The two of them start investigating some of the suspicious events that happened both in the previous life and the present and eventually realize that there's a conspiracy going on (isn't there always?) involving the barbarians in the North and some soul devouring artifacts they're developing. Everything is connected, including the death of Lin Xin's parents, what happened to his master in his previous life that force Lin Xin to kill him, and why Shen Lou was reborn with such a weak soul in this life. Like I mention earlier, I thought the author tied everything together nicely by the end.

The romance was okay. The feelings are already there in both the MC and ML from the beginning, so it just took some time for them to figure out the double rebirth and actually confess their feelings. After that, their relationship was quite sweet. After all, they had enough hardships in their previous lives so they deserve more sweetness in this one! It was funny seeing everyone around them do a double take when they find out about their relationship, as I'm sure it comes out of left field for everyone else lol

The novel had a strong ending but a weak start, otherwise it'd be a solid 4 or even 4.5 star book for me.

[Arithra · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.7. It's better than 3 stars, but not quite up to the four star level.

I had a bit of a hard time getting into the novel, but I'm glad that I stuck to it. On NU it's genre is Xianxia, but tbh it's very different from most other Xianxia novels - it feels a lot more like a historical novel. Clans, family, imperial politics - and the romance and past of the two main characters of course. The summary is not wrong but somehow it made me expect something very different.

The novel starts out shortly after Lin Xin's rebirth. In his past life LX was a trusted subordinate of the emperor and made a lot of enemies, though as the narration quickly tells us, he already had enemies that he was gunning for before that. Now he is back in his childhood "home" under the "care" of his paternal family. He hopes to get away from them soon and find his master, though he is puzzled by some of the changes that seem to have occurred already even though he hasn't done anything.

To the reader one of the changes becomes quite clear: LX is not the only one who has been reborn, but Shen Lou, a famous and much celebrated young man, and the heir to one of the most powerful families in the empire has as well. In their past life the lives of LX and SL had entangled, and they clearly had feelings for each other, though circumstances lead to some misunderstandings and missed chances between them. SL is back as well, and there are two things he is focusing on: finding and protecting the young LX (which includes preventing him from killing his master) and protecting the country from the barbarian invasion that lead to thousands of death beforehand.

Due to some of the changes that had occurred since their rebirths, SL and LX meet a lot earlier and SL takes LX with him and away from his family. At this point neither of them know that the other one has been reborn as well which leads to some humorous situations. Eventually, LX ends up with his master again and it becomes obvious that what SL and LX knew in their past lives was always only a fraction of what was going on, but what they knew and assumed made a lot of sense in the context of the story.

Though misunderstandings and misconceptions played a big role in the story, I was pleasantly surprised by how well done it was. The misunderstandings while sometimes obvious to the reader were not annoying and dragged out and it wasn't just our main characters who suffered from them. I also though that the revelations from the past life and some of the new ones in this life tied together really well. LX though he knew who his enemies were, but he was wrong and that means some of his actions were wrong as well - he is not just a righteous hero, and that made him a lot more likable.

I also enjoyed the relationship between the two main characters. Despite loving each other (and eventually realizing that they were both reborn.. one quicker than the other), they still have a life. Sure, they would like to attach themselves to the other's side all the time, but that's not just how life works sometimes, and I thought it was great that they actually had to separate sometimes.

The side characters were lovable and actually appeared more than once. There was actually a surprisingly large cast of characters who appeared multiple times and had relevant roles, such as the master, senior brother or even the sons of LX's enemy from his past life.

The extras were nothing special, though they were more relevant than more fluff. In fact that dealt with some relevant issues from the main story and showed was happens to the main leads and some of the people around them.

With all that said, why did I not even give four stars? It's partly the writing and partly the translation. The first is really annoying when it comes to its flashbacks and sometimes you have no idea if it is a flashback or not. And the other one... well. It's not bad, its just awkward. For the most part it is understandable. There are some he/she switches in the later chapters, though I don't think the translation I read is MTL. The biggest downside was probably the titles and the courtesy names and how inconsistent they were - especially when it comes to LX. Honestly, even by the end I have no idea what his courtesy name is, there are four options. The titles are a bit more... complex? Like, leaving aside that they are only sometimes translated, it's clear that a bit more though should have gone into which translation of the titles should be used. For example. Crown Prince just does not mean the same when used to refer to a Duke's heir as opposed to the emperor's- In Chinese the difference is clear, in English it's not and it would have been a lot better to just.. call it the duke's heir. It's the difference between a good translation and a functional one. And five+ crown princes just isn't a great look.

Should you read it despite those flaws? Yes, it has a reasonable plot and interesting characters. Also, there was a reason for the rebirth! Always a plus in my eyes. Don't be fooled by the comparatively small number of chapters, they are longer than you would expect.

[Beatrice Lapa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was kinda surprised that this had been difficult for me to read because I really liked this author. But I was surprised at how bad the scene transitions were. This is a rebirth story that just jumps from one timeline to another without proper segway, so sometimes I get confused which timeline is being described. World-building was kinda piss poor, too, compared to this author's other works. Otherwise, it would have been very interesting because the characters were funny and had various strengths, especially the ML's sister, who is a master archer and military commander. Good explanation for the rebirth, though. At least it's not the usual unexplained restart.