Shen Qingci was once the cherished jewel of a family of four in the capital. Her father hid imperial candied fruit in her book chest, her mother taught her to embroider crabapple blossoms without ever complaining that she was clumsy, and even her eldest brother took the blame whenever she got into trouble. Her second brother doted on her, too.
But after a conspiracy framed them, her father and eldest brother were imprisoned, and her father fell gravely ill. Her mother was taken away and disappeared without a trace. Her second brother protected her as they fled into Qingya, but they eventually became separated as well.
Clutching the jade pendant her father had given her, she stumbled into Lu Zheng's arms. Mud stained the hunter's trousers, and his hunting knife still had fur on it, but he said gently, "I'm the only one in my household. You'll be safe."
Lu Zheng's parents had died long ago. His father had been injured by a wild boar while protecting him, and his mother passed away not long after, heartbroken over her husband. All Lu Zheng had left was the old pot his mother had used to cook rice gruel.
He patched the leaky shed and made her sweet soup. When he carved a crooked hairpin, he stubbornly insisted, "It's prettier than the ones in the capital." She embroidered a crabapple handkerchief badly, but he kept it tucked close to his heart and showed it off to everyone he met. He even brought out his parents' old wooden box to keep her jade pendant in.
"Neither of us has parents anymore. I'll protect you from now on." As Lu Zheng drew her into his arms, the moon over Qingya hung beside the eaves of their shed. Their drafty home was filled with a sweet fragrance, warmer than the mansion in the capital had ever been.
