When she was five, during a storm in a mountain ravine, she gave a half-piece of osmanthus candy and a twin-fish jade pendant to a wild boy on the brink of death. “Come find your big sister someday,” she said casually, but he carved her words into his very bones.
Ten years later, he is the heir to the greatest swordsmanship in the land. When he sees her notice seeking shadow guards, he tears it down on the spot: “I'll protect her.” To hide his identity, he wears an ugly, scarred mask and pretends to be a mute servant. He endures vicious servants scalding him with hot soup, stops a spooked horse with his bare hands, and shields her from a hail of arrows. Even with every meridian shattered, he only smiles: “My life belongs to you.”
She once trusted a scumbag, who abandoned her in a disused estate and had her dowry sent into exile. He digs wild vegetables in the snow for her and breaks a villain's ribs in the dead of night. He storms the imperial palace, holding his sword to the emperor's throat: “Touch her, and I'll send you to your grave!”
At the execution ground, he removes his mask, revealing a handsome eighteen-year-old face that leaves the crowd stunned. The people shout, “Release the brave hero who protected the princess consort!” As a gale rises, his master arrives through the snow to save him, leaving only the scumbag emperor to topple from his dragon throne.
In a wooden cabin in the snowy mountains, she feeds him porridge, eyes red, and vows, “You protected me before. Now it's my turn!” But he smiles. “Ever since the day you gave me that candy, all I've been waiting for is to hear you say, ‘Let's face it together.’”
When the scumbag surrounds the mountain with five thousand soldiers, she charges out with her Lingxiao Sword, her sword energy driving back a thousand troops. “Want to touch my man? You'll have to get past me first!” Later, a message arrives from Medicine King Valley: “We've found a thousand-year-old ice lotus. His martial arts can be restored!” She takes his hand. “I'll go with you, however far north we have to travel!”
Half a piece of candy buys a lifetime of protection. A shadow guard and a daughter of the prime minister's legitimate line find their way to each other, from the wilderness to the martial world, from the execution ground to the snowy mountains. Once he vows to protect her, he does so for a lifetime!
