The Lighter and the Princess’ Gown · Barren Grasslands 打火机与公主裙·荒草园
The Lighter and the Princess’ Gown · Eternal Fire 打火机与公主裙·长明灯
I have my King
I am his loyal subject
For him, I am willing to stand my ground, waving my flag and hollering at the top of my lungs
For him, I am willing to fight on the battlefield, battling tirelessly till Death claims me
[Ebook One & Two] [Chiếc bật lửa và váy công chúa][Eng Translation][Drama][Donghua][Manhua]
Went to read this novel without knowing that there is Part 2 omg!!! So I immediately stopped when I was at three-quarter of the book.
As usual, Twentine produces great work. The female lead comes from a well to do family. Her father is a well-known figure in the education sector and her mum is a principal or vice-principal of a school. As for her, she is a good student and always top her class. But there is another side of her. She smokes secretly at time and this actually traces back to one of her history. She is not obsessed with smoking though, which I like because I don’t need a complete bad girl side of her. This subtle side of her is enough to make you feel engaged enough with the story, always wondering what kind of girl she is. Luckily, she is not a bad ass otherwise it will be too predictable.
The female leads has many inner monologues and I love it because it shows that she is not what she shows herself to be. She is just a typical girl who will roll eyes people etc. The male lead somehow manages to know that she has many inner monologues going in her head so he always ask us to speak out hah.
The male lead is a genius in making codes for website/programmes. Other than scoring well in school, he has an extensive experience writing codes for businesses… and this fact is actually linked to his family background. He comes from a poor village family but strives to work hard. Really, really hard. But he is super cocky and frequently offends ppl. But yunno deep down he is just a super, super nice guy. T_T
The male lead in this novel reminds of Chi You in Once Promised. This guy IS the modern version of Chi You. And I can’t wait for Part 2 to come out T_T
dramasbooksandtea, why did you leave me hanging? hahaha. :'(
What!!!!! I’m at chpt 20……arghhhhhh……I need to stop…when is part 2 coming out?
@cloudandsea Thanks a million for doing the book review!! Now I can continue being lazy and bum around :p I must say I love both the male and female leads as well! I adore the female lead – I think she’s very, very strong and I love how fiercely loyal, how staunch she is in her love for the male lead – it’s like she said, he is her King, and for him, she is willing to battle to the death. Yes, there are two parts to the novel – which is why I didn’t put a HE/BE tag behind Part 1. But noooo why did you stop!! You should totally finish the novel and wait for Part 2 with me!! Twentine is a pretty fast writer and she promised that Part 2 will be out soon!!
I agree with you regarding the similarities between the male lead and Chi You thus far – in Part 1 of both books, Chi You and Li Xun have no regard for how others view them, for societal norms/constraints, and are generally quite distrustful of the people around them – BUT, however, I do think that their attitude towards love is very different; while Chi You suffers from self doubt and frequently doubts A’Heng’s love for him, Li Xun has no such doubts – he knows perfectly well how very much in love Zhu Yun is with him :p
@ Pm – No don’t stop!! Keep reading on and you can enjoy the torturous wait for Part 2 with me!! 😀
Noooooo…..I wil not be tortured…:p I stopped reading…haha…..but twentines novels are nice….even with a bad ending….poignant and heart wrenching…..very lifelike situations…not ur fluffy dovey endings….
@pm Hi pm, sorry for late reply hehehe. Part 2 is out now! dramasbook is right, twentine (they called her 量哥 in forums, I don’t really know why though) is updating at a very consistent speed. 7pm everyday 🙂 So far 6 chapters are out. I’m ready to finish first book hahahah.
@dramabooks sigh I feel like in the second book, he starts to lose his confidence and felt that Zhu Yun has betrayed him. Thank god the little man stole her wallet. Pls write your review/thoughts for this book! I definitely can’t write and express my thoughts on this book as well as you :X Always love reading your summary of the characters hehe. Thanks for introducing this book, I really love it a lot 🙂 Are you chasing the 2nd book as well?
Part 2 was not as good as Part 1 but still my fave novel. I really felt as if I grew together with Li Xun and Zhu Yun as I read the novel. The epilogue was so heartwrenching even though it is supposed to be a happy ending. 🙁 This is my first time chasing after a novel and I would look forward to it every single day. Definitely worth every single wait. T_T
Can’t wait for Twentine new novel!
Oh….it’s finally out…it better be a happy ending….if not I’m so going to cry :,(
Ah, The Lighter and the Princess’ Gown. How do I begin? No, the novel doesn’t weave a grand and complicated plot; neither does it boast an amazing and detailed world built from the author’s very own words. In fact, the story is a simple one, the essence of which is easily captured by Twentine in her short and simple summary – it’s about the romance between a knight and her king, the relationship between a trapped and sheltered princess and the battered but proud boy, and the love that blossomed between Li Xun and Zhu Yun.
Our female lead, Zhu Yun, was a quiet, obedient and inconspicuous law-abiding student when she met our male lead, Li Xun, and his glorious mane of golden hair. Like his hair, Li Xun loud and ostentatious; he blazed his way into the lives of numerous people, leaving an indelible impression on everyone he met. He threw social norms and rules to the wind – he lived exactly how he wished to live, without a care for what everyone and anyone thought of him. Before Zhu Yun met Li Xun, she was just a face in the crowd; someone who followed in society’s footsteps, never straying too far from the beaten path (of course, she had the occasional rebellion). But then, she met him. And she learnt how to pick up her sword, put on her armor, and transform into a knight willing to fight the hardest battles and strike the toughest obstacles – all for her King, and for their dreams.
Yes, to my mind, this is an unequal romance – Zhu Yun is clearly more in love, and more heavily invested in the relationship compared to Li Xun, who has her eating out of the palm of his hand. But to Zhu Yun, it truly doesn’t matter. Li Xun loves her in his own way, and that’s really enough for her. And ultimately, she complements him as well, making him a much better person that he could ever be alone. And she complements him in such an amazing and understated way that most readers seem to fail to notice, thus giving her way less credit than she rightfully deserves. She provides a sense of calmness to his brash and rash side, and empathy and expressiveness to his maimed ability to express himself.
@ cloudandsea Oh no you didn’t find Part 2 as good? Haha I think it was good for me because I gobbled the entire book up in one seating which spared me the excruciatingly slow process of their reunion (Zhu Yun!! How can you be so slow to profess your love to your king!!) Haha but I found the epilogue heart wrenching as well – but at the same time, I thought it was really sweet how, even at the end Li Xun did what was best for Zhu Yun, and how she was truly the last person she saw flashing across his eyes before he passed. Ah, did you read any other Twentine novels? 🙂 any reccs?
@ Pm It is a happy ending!! No worries go ahead and plunge yourself in the novel!!!
I finished!!!! 🙂
quite a nice read…but not as good as some of her other novels….
I just need some clarifications…. did li xun like yun zhu from the very beginning or only after some time?
@Pm I’m still a brand new Twentine fan so I haven’t had the chance to read her other novels – but if they’re better than The Lighter and The Princess Gown I am definitely gg to check them out!! Ah, in my opinion I think Li Xun wasn’t romantically attracted to Zhu Yun from the very beginning (after all, he originally considered romantic involvements to be some form of stress relief activity used to pass the time), but she definitely caught his attention (with all her inner sarcastic thoughts and earnesty) and that subsequently led to him developing feelings for her.
icic…coz the last part confused me..coz he said sth like asking her to turn ard and notice him or sth like that…
I recommend “the untold story”. it has a super bad and sad ending but the whole story per say was good.
@Pm Oh dear I’m quite averse to sad endings because they make me depressed for days on end… I’m going to try giving her other HE books a shot before I attempt The Untold Story!! Thanks for the reccomendation though!!
Ah, I think the final part was a dream Zhu Yun and Li Xun’s son, Li Si Qi, had, where he dreamt of the very first meeting his parents had – which was why the son was egging for the mom to turn back, because he was anxious for his mum to turn around and notice his dad, the person who would truly change her life, and also because he wanted to see her comical, stunned expression :p
The ebook link (above) no longer works for The Lighter and Princess Gown. I was reading this book on the website, Twelve Months of May, but that site is no longer up.
Does anyone have a copy of this great book so that I may finish this story?
Thanks in advance!