Scorned for his red hair, which gained him the name of the ill-fated star, Xie Ru is cursed with a harsh life at the hands of his own family. After his death, he awakens to the modern world, where he becomes versed in the ways of medicine and even l...
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The Xie family was a house of steel, carrying the empire through its most fierce wars for over ten generations. Despite being a family concentrated on the arts of war, they did not fall behind in intelligence when in comparison to the scholar families.
Among General Xie's five children, four shone the brightest. All were born from the same mother due to the General's refusal to take in a concubine in the face of his declared beloved.
The mansion was characterised by the esteemed eldest and only daughter, Xie Lian, who was skilled in riding a warhorse and combat. An anomaly to the common, esteemed ladies from the aristocracy.
The eldest son, Xie Wei, the heir to the Xie family's legacy, was moulded by the General himself. A cold, harsh and unforgiving man ready to sacrifice his all for the sake of the empire and the royal family.
The second child, Xie Ren, the spare, who, despite his skills in martial arts and swordsmanship, often spends his days in the company of women. Reputable among the empire for his tendency to entice women before leaving them high and dry.
The fourth child, Xie Tao who finds more interest in the arts rather than the barbaric ways of war, nonetheless, like all his other siblings, he was still taught and disciplined like they would in the military.
However, the forgotten fifth child, Xie Ru.
Born with copper red hair, neither the black ink nor the brown earth colour. His strange hair and freckles that blemished his face had him declared a bad omen, a curse to the Xie lineage. His own mother, Fu-Ren Zhang, despaired of looking upon him, thinking of him as an ill-fated star.
He wasn't given the privilege of learning the ways of the sword or discipline from his father like his other siblings did, nor allowed to even eat with them when they conversed joyfully over dinner.
While they sparred with one another in the field with their mother watching over them, paint a harmonious picture, Xie Ru was left to his own devices in his destitute courtyard, drawing in the dirt with withered branches. He always sketched the same picture, his family and he, all of them holding smiles because they were with each other.
And yet even in such a tragic life, he still found hope to cling to.
The crown prince, Liang Wenyan
Their first meeting was by no means gentle. The annual spring hunt that always gathered the empire's most prestigious, Xie Ru, escaped the camp of his family, fearing his presence would dim their atmosphere.
He peered into the forest, trying to find someplace to stay hidden like he did every year; however, he'd sprained his ankle, and the sudden growl echoed. He shook with fear, knowing with his weak stature and strength, he wouldn't be able to put up a fight with whatever creature decided to end his sad existence.
Liang Wenyan, the ever-so aloof prince, decapitated the wolf's head that sprang to close in on its prey. The crown prince had the awe-struck Xie Ru hoisted onto his horse, much to his dismay, before returning him to the camp.
His family had long left the tent to join the other families. Xie Ru was sitting somewhere by Liang Wenyan, whose face held the expression of a man bothered. With a look of disgust, the crown prince had thrown a handkerchief over his face, like he considered Xie Ru a lowly creature.
