Pairings: Dongfang Qingcang/Xiao Lanhua (background Jieli/Shangque)
Warnings: minor character death, canon-typical levels of violence
Tags: romance, drama, mystery, angst with a happy ending, 1920s AU, Actress!XLH, Mafia!DFQC
The scene is 1920s Lucheng and the stage is set. Aspiring actress Xiao Lanhua lands her first leading role in the silent film production of Romeo and Juliet opposite silver screen heart-throb Changheng. While Xiao Lanhua hopes their leading roles can bring her closer to Changheng, whom she has admired from afar for years, she instead strikes up a fast friendship with Daqiang, a mysterious man she encounters at the Cangyan Sea Speakeasy. Of course, nothing is quite as it seems: Daqiang is soon revealed to be the ruthless new head of the Cangyan Syndicate.
Dongfang Qingcang has returned from exile to reestablish the Cangyan Syndicate's supremacy in Lucheng's underworld - and he's out for blood, desperate to unravel the circumstances of his father's death five years ago and clear his name. In the meantime, Xiao Lanhua has unwittingly begun to untangle the sudden and tragic death of renowned stage performer Lady Chidi. As she and Dongfang Qingcang grow closer, the threads of the case all seem to lead to him as the culprit.
With her real life beginning to mirror the tragic script, will Xiao Lanhua escape her encroaching fate unscathed? Or is she, like Juliet, simply fortune's fool?
Featuring artwork from @sassybluee !
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(Edit: I completely forgor this fic has a "soundtrack"! Assembled based on vibes and lyrics)
Is Who | Tangled Up | Memory Loss | dlwlrma | Tip of My Tongue
