Mu Zhiyou, daughter of the Prince of Beijing, spent seven years as a hostage in the imperial palace.
She hid her true nature and carefully navigated a den of wolves and tigers, all for the chance to return to the northern lands one day.
But to seize military power, the Emperor married her off to the general Qi Wei.
To eliminate any future threat, the imperial brother she had once trusted personally set a trap to humiliate her.
Desperate and helpless, she never expected the man who had once forcefully threatened her, her future husband, to come to her rescue.
From then on, she hid her claws and played the obedient caged bird, giving him whatever he wanted and turning her gratitude into wholehearted cooperation.
She thanked him as a benefactor she held dear, but never loved him as a husband.
Qi Wei finally understood. Trapped in her past, she had long since lost the ability to love and no longer believed anyone could love her.
When she interpreted all his devotion and protection as a debt of gratitude she had to repay, Qi Wei finally ran out of patience.
He held her captive:
“Mu Zhiyou, stop playing games to repay your debt. I don’t want you to be a dutiful wife.”
“I want you to love me, as wildfires love the wilderness, as moths love the flame: irrationally, without counting the cost, until death.”
Just as she finally opened her heart and began to learn how to love…
He took her father’s military command into his own hands, tearing away her last support.
He taught her both love and hate with his own hands…
#He thought his little fox was a clueless block of wood who couldn’t love#
#He burned through the whole redemption arc only to realize his wife still hadn’t caught on#
