Synopsis: [The heroine mistakes the hero for someone else; the hero puts on a strong front while inwardly consumed by excitement, jealousy, and envy; the hero steals her away]
The mists of Jiangnan had yet to lift when Su Zhiwei arrived at the capital’s wharf in the morning light. A marriage contract her father had left on his deathbed had brought her from the drizzle of Qiantang to this unfamiliar imperial city, where she was to find her betrothed, the second son of the Xie family, Xie Mingchuan, whom she had never met. She first encountered the Xie family’s eldest son, Xie Linzhou, amid the bustle of the wharf. He stood beside a teahouse, his pale moon-white robe lending his figure the upright elegance of bamboo. His brows and eyes held a distant chill that kept others at bay, yet when he glimpsed the orchid jade hairpin in her hair, an almost imperceptible ripple crossed his eyes. They met again in an alley where begonias fluttered through the air. He was still as cool as a snow-mountain lotus, yet when she accidentally caught her clothes on a bamboo chair, he quietly stopped to help. At their first meeting in the Xie residence, he guided her at his grandmother’s request. As they discussed paintings of orchids, his usually even voice turned unexpectedly gentle. She cautiously tried to find out what her future husband liked, but he repeatedly rebuffed her with indifference. The embarrassment of having her osmanthus and red bean cake rejected, the mortification of accidentally smashing a porcelain bowl, and her stubbornness as blood seeped from her fingertips all fell under his gaze. He said, “There’s no need to trouble yourself,” yet silently brought her the finest ointment. Though he knew she was asking about his younger brother, he could not help showing concern when she was hurt.
When Jiangnan’s warmth meets the capital’s aristocratic elegance, and a settled marriage contract collides with an unexpected heart-fluttering attraction, can this orchid, transplanted from Jiangnan, find a spring breeze of its own in the Xie family’s garden? And how will the seemingly cold and stern eldest Xie son face this quietly growing, ill-timed affection?
