The Thorn Rose Marriage Contract

A Republican-era take on Mr. and Mrs. Smith, with revenge Shanghai, 1930. The Rose Auction House. She is a princess of the former Qing dynasty. On the surface, she sells rose essential oil; in reality, she runs an underground intelligence station. He is a young marshal, ordered to enter a "marriage of convenience" to expose a mole. On their wedding night, he slaps his pistol down beside the marriage certificate. "Princess, I don't care whose rose you are. Just don't prick me." She smiles and pins a rose brooch to his lapel. "Young Marshal, I happen to like leaving thorns in people's hearts." Later, he takes a bullet for her on a rainy night. The shot grazes her rose brooch, leaving a scorched mark. At the execution ground, she uses rose essential oil to burn the secret message, along with the white veil he tied around her himself. The roses burn away, and their contract turns to ash. Only then do they realize: The end of revenge was each other. The sharpest thorn of all was love. When the rose blooms, their contract is void. Only then do they see that its final line was written in blood: "I love you."