Nian Qing, eldest daughter of the Cui clan of Qinghe, was personally taught by her grandfather, the prime minister. Well-versed in the classics and history and skilled in strategy, her intelligence had few equals among the young people of the capital. Her grandfather often sighed, "If only she were a man, her future would know no bounds." Yet all that brilliance was wrapped in a plain, serene appearance. When the time came to discuss marriage, she ultimately had to follow her family's path and accept an engagement to Zhao Nuo, the only son of Princess Anping.
Zhao Nuo was a nobleman of imperial blood, raised from childhood in the palm of everyone's hand. Spoiled and carefree, he prized appearances above all. His attendants were all handsome and elegant, and every object in his residence had to be exquisitely crafted. Hearing that his betrothed was merely average-looking, he considered the match an "insult" and resisted with all his might. In the end, he could not defy the emperor or his mother, and the engagement he considered "not worth the trouble" was settled.
At their first meeting, he paid little attention to her, treating her as nothing more than a "proper" ornament he had to keep around.
At their second meeting, the court was deadlocked over a difficult matter. From behind a screen, she casually offered a solution, making him look at her in surprise.
At a poetry gathering, she wrote a poem on the spot, outshining the famous scholars in attendance and leaving him speechless.
When trouble arose, she kept her head and protected everyone with her clever plans, stirring his heart even more.
The prejudice born of her appearance gradually crumbled to dust before the serenity in her eyes, the sharpness of her words, and her resilience in the face of adversity.
Only then did Zhao Nuo realize that the most captivating thing in the world was not beauty painted on with cosmetics, but the intelligence hidden in one's very bones, the strength of character with which one stood in the world, and a woman like her, who could make all the splendor in a room seem dull even with a bare face.
The engagement that began as a matter of convenience ultimately became the reason he fell for her, step by step.
