Everyone in the capital said that the regent Xie Lin was an evil ghost crawling back from hell.
At the age of seventeen, he led the army to suppress the rebellion, and at the age of twenty, he had power over the government and the opposition. In the court, he was the uncompromising "King of Ember". He killed countless souls under the sword, and even a three-year-old child did not dare to cry when he heard his name.
But only Xie Lin knew that he had a flower growing in his heart - Shen Weiwan whom he raised in the deep courtyard.
Shen Weiwan was picked up by him. She was like a cherry tree that didn't know the dangers of the world. She would secretly put her cold little hands into his arms to keep warm when he was at his desk. When he was angry, she would stand on tiptoes and pull his sleeves and act coquettishly, "Xie Lin, don't frown, it's not good-looking." She would command him as a matter of course, "I don't know this word, please teach me."
No one has ever seen the regent who made the prisoners wail for three days and three nights in the torture chamber, squatting on the porch, peeling apples for the little girl, and frowning in annoyance when the peel breaks; no one knows that he can order people to plant alfalfa in the yard just because she said "she wants to see fireflies", just so that she can see enough on summer nights.
But gentleness is a weakness that cannot be hidden.
When the political enemy's arrows are aimed at her, when she uncovers the bloody old letters he had hidden, when the truth about the family's injustice is like an ice pick piercing her heart——
Xie Lin, who was always obedient to her, instantly transformed back into the murderous King Jin.
"If you hurt even one of her hair, I will slaughter your whole family."
He was gentle to her, but cold to the outside. He built a high wall with his hostility to protect her in the safest place.
Shen Weiwan looked at the man who coaxed her to drink medicine one second, and ordered the murder the next, and suddenly understood: His ruthlessness was for the world, and his softness was always only for her.
