The whole capital is waiting to laugh at Shen Zhaozhao. She could have remained a noblewoman from a prestigious family, but instead she insists on marrying Xiao Heng, the deposed crown prince, confined under house arrest and on the verge of death!
The emperor arranged the marriage? It’s obviously an insult!
Her family objects? She picks up her dowry and charges ahead!
The world doesn’t understand? Shen Zhaozhao is happy with her choice!
In everyone else’s eyes, he is a living corpse, deposed for treason and too sick to live much longer.
But to her, he is still Brother Xiao Heng, the boy who once gave her osmanthus candy and dazzled the whole capital!
And so...
At the entrance to a dilapidated imperial estate, she kicks open the rickety gate, slings a trunk over her shoulder, and calls out above the howling wind and snow:
“Husband! I, Shen Zhaozhao, have delivered myself right to your door!”
In the courtyard, the gloomy, ailing former crown prince coughs until his heart and lungs seem ready to tear apart, his eyes glinting with icy fury: You’re asking for death!
And yet...
When cruel servants steal their provisions, she punches them flying!
When local thugs harass her, she kicks them until they question their life choices!
When the roof leaks, she leaps onto the rafters and repairs it with her bare hands!
When the male lead is “too frail to look after himself,” she thumps her chest and promises, “Don’t worry! I’ll protect you from now on!”
Xiao Heng: ... (Is this woman here to make me laugh or tear the place apart?)
He thinks she is the emperor’s spy, a discarded pawn of the Shen family.
He has no idea she is the one and only blazing little sun shining into his endless darkness!
A frail scholar? Ha, that’s just a facade! He’s a cunning mastermind who can outthink the world!
All she can do is fight? Wrong! She makes money, farms, and builds infrastructure. She’s the hidden backer behind the big shot who gets to sit back and win!
