The Talented Young Lady's Heart Belongs to the General

With Mian, I have no regrets in this life.

Once the greatest female talent of Dajiang, she could debate a hundred people on her own and top every poetry gathering. Brilliant and widely learned, she was a woman who single-handedly conquered the literary world, the pride of the Shen family and countless women.

Yet for the sake of her family’s prestige, she married Huo Jinzhi, the poorest of all the court officials. In an instant, she became an outcast to her family. She had assumed her husband would treat her with little more than polite formality, especially since everyone said they were badly mismatched.

Later, she learned that Huo Jinzhi was gentle and reassuring. When everyone doubted her, only a young man wearing a forehead band believed in her. “People have always been biased against women. Follow your own path. You’re our pride.” He reminded her every day to take care of herself. In time, she grew cheerful, joked with people, and learned to speak her mind. She became a rare rose in the desert, finally her own person, freed from shackles and the prejudices of the world.

But in her first year at Chang'an, she died in a sea of sand, leaving no remains. The news of the defeat came back. Miracles never happened. This was no tale from a storybook, only the account of someone who gave everything she had to her country. Later, she traveled across the land and met countless people, but never met that one person again.

Only then did she understand: she had long since carved someone into her bones. Even as her flesh and blood were torn apart, she became the brightest star in Dajiang, yet could never see her own North Star.

Later, Shen Yuzhe was no more. There was only a marquess who died of illness after throwing herself into a lake. The whole world was in uproar. From then on, Dajiang had no more great female talent, only Shen Yuzhe, who had spent her whole life without ever finding the one she loved.

The name can’t be changed, so it doesn’t match the cover. Please understand.