As a frontier general, I returned to the capital for the Winter Solstice wedding feast with my wife, Shen Yurong. I followed her to the ice prison in the back hills of the prince's estate to "inspect the winter defenses." The moment I stepped inside, I heard the iron door slam shut. The golden whistle I could have used to call for help had been plugged with lead beforehand. As the cold pierced my bones, I clutched the warming sachet she'd handed me that morning, only to realize it concealed Ice Soul Powder. My limbs went rigid in an instant. In a daze, I heard her laughing with the new top scorer in the imperial exams from above the prison ceiling: "Doesn't your husband always say, 'An iron backbone can withstand snow and frost'? Today, let me show you whether you can still be the Marquis of Zhenbei without that million-strong army seal." The Ice Soul Powder in the sachet had stiffened my limbs. My eyes
