Stratagem of Fated Winds

Torch Lit Ink is celebrating this historical MMC romance from Minyue Fu with a book tour event.

📆 Book Tour Dates : October 1 – October 9

𝑩𝒍𝒖𝒓𝒃:

They were meant to pacify the nation together.

A warlord’s son, scorned for his humble origins. A noble’s heir, jaded by unearned thrones. When Sun Ce and Zhou Yu cross blades beneath the pear trees, time begins to bend.

Then, Sun Ce dies.

His spirit lingers, bound to a sword and a promise unkept.

But Zhou Yu is not yet finished. Not while memory burns brighter than the fires of Red Cliffs.

As he shatters his soul to rewrite the fate that doomed them both, Sun Ce—caught between regret and longing—reaches for him from the far shore of death.

Amidst the war-torn ruins of an alternate 2nd-century China, grief unravels ambition—and love, in the end, redeems all.

Tropes:

Slow Burn

Childhood Friends

MM Romance

Historical Romance

Alternate timelines, same doomed love

Mutual Sacrifice

Magic

He falls first (which one?)

Content Warnings:

This novel contains emotional and thematic material that may be distressing to some readers. While I have taken care to avoid gratuitous depictions that do not serve the plot or setting, please read with caution if you are sensitive to any of the following: 

This is a HEA… BUT!

This story has interspersed references to the original historical timeline (~7,800 words), which is a tragedy. The alternate timeline (~97,200 words) is HEA. 
Recurring or Major Themes 
- Violence & War 
- Grief, Death, & Near-Death: physical and emotional aftermath. 
- Relationship Estrangement: emotional manipulation, betrayal, and reconciliation between romantic leads (HEA!). 
- Reincarnation & Identity Blurring: themes of fractured memory, timeless longing, and merged past lives.
Additional Content Warnings 
- Injuries (bleeding, scars, burns) and executions (beheading, strangulation). 
- Mentions of suicide and starvation. 
- Religious and supernatural themes (Daoist rituals, divine intervention). 
- Political intrigue and betrayal (espionage, conspiracy). 
- Hallucinations and blurred reality. 
- Implied alcohol abuse by side characters. 
- Implied animal harm (riding horses into battlefields, hunting, using animal pelts). 
- One instance of on-page harm directed at a horse during battle (no on-page death). 
- Instances of horses being pushed too hard in emergency situations (no death). 
- Implied child harm due to historical setting (i.e. starvation, political infighting). 
- Instances of on-page harm directed at a child (thwarted).
- Protagonists are underage at the beginning of the novel and experience violence.  
- Historical misogyny (social constraints, marriage expectations, concubinage systems) (partial subversion). 
- Arranged and pretend marriage involving one romantic lead (political alliance and manipulation) (resolved for HEA).