The capital’s number-one playgirl, Commandery Princess Shen Jinghong, is noble-born, breathtakingly beautiful, and outrageously arrogant, acting as though no rules apply to her. When the Grand Princess pressures her to marry, Shen Jinghong taps her elegant finger and picks Lu Jingyuan, a poor scholar who placed third in the palace examinations. Everyone laments that a beautiful flower has been stuck in a pile of manure, and the softest, most easily bullied pile at that.
Newly appointed third-place scholar Lu Jingyuan is gentle and courteous. With no powerful connections, he has been given nothing but an idle post, seeming to lack ambition and be content with mediocrity. When this unexpected marriage falls into his lap, he acts both flattered and uneasy, perfectly playing the part of a “soft persimmon” ready to be squeezed.
Little do they know that what the world sees as a farce is the beginning of a careful scheme by two foxes.
After marrying into the commandery princess’s household, Shen Jinghong plans to focus on her own ambitions and keep her young husband in line along the way. But she gradually discovers that this “soft persimmon” is shrewd, with a sharp edge that occasionally shows through. Lu Jingyuan, in turn, realizes that beneath his spoiled wife’s playgirl act lies a clever mind and hidden ambition.
As conspiracies close in, their layers of testing and disguise peel away. She discovers that he has been playing the pig to eat the tiger, with a world of schemes and knowledge hidden within him. He sees that she is brilliant and extraordinary, capable of turning the world upside down with a flick of her hand.
From then on, the playgirl princess drops her mask, and the poor-born consort reveals his true edge. No longer a couple hiding behind false faces and testing each other, they become partners in the game, joining forces to outmaneuver the imperial court and play for the world!
