A decree ordering a marriage to bring good fortune transforms her from an orphan of the Directorate of Astronomy, burdened with a blood feud, into the “talk therapist” of a maddened war god.
Everyone mocks her for taking on the impossible, convinced she will be the next sacrifice torn apart by the Mad King. The aristocratic clans laugh at her foolish fantasies, waiting to see how she meets her end.
But no one expects that Wen Renyu’s “talk therapy” will treat not a troubled mind, but fate itself.
“Your Highness, your destiny lacks me. Fiendish energy clings to you, a truly ill omen.” She lightly taps the star chart with her fingertip, utterly unruffled.
“Never mind. I’m your medicine.”
From then on, the atmosphere in the capital’s most prestigious residence, the Prince of Zhenbei’s manor, changes completely.
“The prince smiled again? He must have heard Miss Wenren talking.”
“The prince is willing to eat? Miss Wenren must have fed him herself.”
“The prince gave Miss Wenren the family heirloom? What else could that be but a token of love!”
Just as everyone assumes this is merely a country girl’s trick for fooling the mad prince, a grand state banquet sends the whole court into turmoil.
The assembled officials are stunned to see the “useless prince,” who has been delirious for three years, slowly rise to his feet and cast off every disguise, reclaiming control of the realm with the force of thunder. In front of the whole world, he shields her, the woman accused of being a “demoness,” and declares in a voice like thunder:
“She is no demon. She is my destiny. Whoever harms her makes an enemy of me. No matter how far away they flee, they will be executed!”
In that instant, every official in the court falls to their knees, and the aristocratic clans are left dumbfounded.
Only then do they understand: there was never any mad prince. The husband and wife had joined forces and laid a net across the land, waiting for their enemies to walk right into it.
