Shen Zhiyi, the legitimate daughter of the Marquis of Jingyuan’s household, was born a treasured darling of the heavens. But after her mother died young, her stepmother framed her, and her father banished her to a country estate for eight years. A letter written in blood summons her back to the capital, only for her to find herself promised to Xiao Chengyu, the Northern General, in a marriage alliance: a scheme that will drag her into the struggle for the throne between the Crown Prince and Prince Qin.
Everyone knows the Northern General Xiao Chengyu as a ruthless, cold-blooded killer. But few know that this powerful minister, who commands three hundred thousand troops, is the late emperor’s orphaned son, and has spent years lying low for the sake of revenge. On their wedding night, he tests her blood with a silver needle, while she uses poison powder to foil his plan. Thus begins a “marriage of convenience” in which both parties have their own agendas.
Shen Zhiyi appears delicate, but is a master of medicine and poison. She uses cosmetics to control the women of the inner palace, exploits an epidemic to bring a powerful minister to heel, and methodically exposes her stepmother’s schemes. She also secretly gains control of the medicine trade in Jiangnan, becoming the strategist behind the turmoil at court. Xiao Chengyu seems to trade suspicions and blows with her, yet when she is imprisoned, he rides alone to save her; when she is poisoned and near death, he sucks the poison from her wounds. He even has her portrait tattooed over his heart, declaring, “This is the banner of the Northern Army.”
When the moonless-night cold poison flares, she keeps him alive with a secret antidote. When an imperial edict hidden in a secret chamber comes to light, he gives up his claim to the throne for her. From mutual exploitation to deep love, she helps him put down the rebellion in the northwest, while he helps her rise to power in the imperial palace. In this contest of political intrigue, love, and hatred, the cold-faced general becomes utterly devoted to his wife, while the exiled legitimate daughter claims the riches and sincere love that are hers, amid a court full of treachery and danger.
