The Cold-Faced War King’s Poisonous Substitute Bride

She is the missing young mistress of the Xuanji Pavilion, whose mastery of poison is unparalleled. He is the God of War of the Great Jing dynasty, a prince whose iron-fisted methods terrify the court. A marriage document with the names accidentally switched binds two people who would otherwise have had nothing to do with each other. On their wedding night, her bridal sedan was turned away at the door. She declared, “The engagement is void,” then drove a golden needle into the doorframe, forcing him to open the door himself. In the bridal chamber, beneath the glow of red candles, she calmly lifted her veil and met his probing gaze. “I’m the one who can cure your ‘Biluohuangquan’ poison.” From then on, the frail prince and his poisonous bride joined forces, stirring up trouble both inside and outside the prince’s manor. His concubine gives her a hard time? She makes her suffer the consequences. Assassins attack in the dark? A handful of poison powder teaches them to behave. At a palace banquet, she dazzles everyone with a lost melody played on a battle zither, drawing the searching gaze of someone from her past. As clues to her senior apprentice sister’s disappearance become entangled with courtly conspiracies, and his nemesis becomes her enemy, the two go from wary allies to partners who entrust each other with their lives. He stands in public for her and declares his claim: “Lay a hand on her, and you make an enemy of me.” She storms the Golden Throne Hall for him, displays the Xuanji Token, and debates the assembled ministers in her white robes to clear his name. When the dust finally settles, he ascends the throne and takes her hand to survey their realm. “I offer you the whole empire. Are you satisfied?” She smiles like a flower and nestles in his arms. “All I’ve ever wanted, from beginning to end, is you.”