Cold Jade Never Warms Again
A-Ning, a mute orphan, picks up a Shen-family jade pendant on a chaotic burial ground in her past life. General Shen Hanshan mistakes her for his long-lost younger sister Shen Yunwu and takes her back to the General’s Manor. Her fleeting peaceful days end when the real young lady returns. Enraged by the truth, Shen Hanshan locks her up and turns a blind eye to the genuine heiress’s repeated persecution. Tormented relentlessly and with a child in her womb, A-Ning slams herself against a wall and dies, drowning in resentment. Reborn back to the day they first meet at the burial mound, A-Ning tosses the jade pendant away on the spot and firmly denies any blood ties, desperate to flee from the siblings who ruined her entire life. Unbeknownst to her, Shen Hanshan has also been reborn with memories of their previous lifetime. Plagued by remorse for his past sins, he insists on bringing her home, determined to atone and protect her by force. Filled with fear and lingering hatred, A-Ning repeatedly tries to run away and even sets fire to the clan ancestral hall. Yet Shen Hanshan forgives all her outbursts unconditionally: he defends her from malicious gossip, defies imperial decrees for her sake, and searches far and wide for top physicians to cure her muteness. When the real heiress Shen Yunwu comes back, consumed by jealousy over A-Ning’s favored status, she stages numerous schemes—faking a drowning accident and spreading vicious slander—all laid bare by Shen Hanshan. To shield A-Ning, he publicly strikes his own sister and drives her out of the manor, severing all family bonds. Burning with vengeful rage, Shen Yunwu kidnaps A-Ning and sells her to a brothel while Shen Hanshan journeys to snow-capped mountains to fetch a sacred snow lotus for A-Ning’s treatment. On the brink of despair, A-Ning attempts suicide once more, only to be rescued by the general’s hasty return. Learning the full truth of the past life, Shen Hanshan punishes Shen Yunwu severely. Traumatized forever by her past suffering, A-Ning can never bring herself to accept his repentance and love, so Shen Hanshan reluctantly agrees to set her free. Still unwilling to concede defeat, Shen Yunwu ambushes A-Ning with a dagger. Shen Hanshan takes the fatal blow for her and passes away in A-Ning’s arms. Overcome with crushing grief, A-Ning kills Shen Yunwu to avenge him. This tangled love, born from misunderstanding, shaped by rebirth, and caught between affection and hatred, ends in a heart-wrenching separation by life and death, leaving nothing but endless regret and bitter tears.
