Shen Zhiyi, the legitimate daughter of the Duke of Zhenguo's household, was intelligent and composed, renowned throughout the capital for her talent. Her elder brother, Shen Zhiyuan, was Vice Minister of Justice. He and Xiao Jingyuan, Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, held opposing views and clashed in court. They were irreconcilable enemies.
Xiao Jingyuan, the legitimate son of the Marquis of Jingbei and the eldest princess, was exceptionally gifted. At just twenty, he had already become Vice Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, overseeing criminal cases across the realm. Cool and aloof, he was known as the “Jade-Faced Yama.”
Shen Zhiyi went with her friend Liu Hanyan to Qifeng Pavilion. There, she ran into Xiao Jingyuan, and in a drunken haze, the two spent the night together.
Afterward, they both kept silent, unaware that a seed had quietly taken root in Shen Zhiyi's womb.
Months later, at a spring banquet, Xiao Jingyuan realized she was pregnant and confronted her about it. She sent him packing with a single sentence:
“You and my brother are sworn enemies. If you want to marry me, win him over first.”
He didn't get angry. Instead, he laughed, and thus began his long, determined campaign to “win over his future brother-in-law.”
He stopped throwing his power around and didn't rely on the emperor to arrange a marriage. Instead, he started with the smallest gestures.
Every morning, a basket of freshly picked wild cherries appeared at the gates of the Duke of Zhenguo's residence, with a note: “Magistrate Shen's favorite variety, picked from the western foothills.”
Whenever Shen Zhiyuan was on night duty, warm ginseng tea was delivered to the palace gates by one of Xiao Jingyuan's attendants, who would simply say, “Vice Minister Xiao says the spring chill is bad for your health.”
He even yielded during the court sessions Shen Zhiyuan detested most, helping him secure a crucial vote.
Everyone was stunned. Was this really Xiao Jingyuan, the “Jade-Faced Yama”?
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