Title: Zhu Yan
Original Title: 朱颜
Author: Cang Yue (沧月)
Publication Date:2016( New version will be published in 2021)
Words: 510,000 (Chinese characters)
TV series Jade Bone Ballad has officially started shooting on March 29, 2021.
Xiao Zhan (肖战,The Untamed 陳情令, 2019)and Ren Min (任敏,Serenade of Peaceful Joy清平樂，2020) will play the leading roles in this TV series.
Introduction:
Zhu Yan (朱颜), the only daughter of King Chi (赤王 [one of the Six Kings of Kongsang 空桑]), is the infanta of Chi Tribe (赤族). She saved Shi Ying (时影)’s life when she was a child, and later went to Jiuyi Mountain (九嶷山) and became a disciple of Ying. She follows Ying to learn theurgy and they spent all the time together. A few years later, Yan is expelled from Jiuyi Mountain because women are not allowed to stay. Yan don’t meet Ying again until she escapes from her marriage at the age of 18. She grew up under the care of Zhi Yuan (止渊), from Half-Fish Tribe (鲛人). Gradually, she starts to fall in love with Yuan, but she eventually realizes that Yuan doesn’t love her, so she slowly pulls away from the relationship.
With a prophecy that Kongsang will be destroyed in 70 years because of Half-Fish Tribe, Ying tries his best to get rid of Sea Emperor (海皇), who is thought as a threat to Kongsang. By doing so, he hopes to reverse the fate of Konsang. Because of his mother’s experience, Ying is originally disgusted with Half-Fish Tribe. At first, he mistakenly thought that he could save Konsang as long as he killed the man who he thought was Sea Emperor. While Yan believes that one can’t just kill innocent people by prophecy, not to mention that she has a good impression and sympathy to Half-Fish Tribe. The great contradiction between the master and disciple’s perceptions leads to Ying desperate killing Yuan, the Half-Fish Tribe member, and then Yan pulls out her sword and kill her master, Ying. She realizes her love for Ying after killing him. Afterwards, with the star soul blood oath (星魂血誓), she gives up half of her life and resurrected Ying. From then on, she fights side by side with Ying to guard the land of Kongsang.
Zhu Yan is divided into two volumes, and volume II is more exciting. In this volume, the characters are more vivid, the emotional storyline of the two protagonists is becoming increasing clear. Although the book is titled “Zhu Yan”, it is not a heroine-oriented novel. Both hero and heroine play a very important role. In this story, the hero has a separate storyline about career and growth. The change and growth of the heroine is also a great highlight of the book.
About the Author,
Cang Yue(沧月）is a Chinese novelist and one of the representatives of the new generation of wuxia writers in mainland China.
Born in Taizhou in 1979, she started publishing her novels online in 2001. Her debut series is “Listening Snow Tower” (听雪楼, Ting Xue Lou), that in 2017 has been adapted into a TV series by the same name.
Apart from her work as a writer, she is also an architect and designer.