Plum Blossoms Reflecting on Bamboo’s Heart

When childhood sweethearts lose to a fated love that arrives out of nowhere, and the truth proves more moving than devotion

Lin Wanzhao had a charmed life. For sixteen years, she enjoyed the honor of being the legitimate daughter of the Minister of Personnel, and her childhood bond with Lu Zhao, heir to the Marquis of Dingbei, was the talk of the capital. Then the Lin family fell overnight, and her father was demoted and sent to Lingnan. Only when she received a letter breaking off their engagement on the grounds that their birth charts were incompatible did she see clearly: so-called deep affection could never outweigh family interests.

Just when she had fallen to her lowest point, a young chancellor, powerful enough to sway the court yet cold and aloof, came to her through the snow.

Shen Qingyan was the youngest chancellor in the dynasty. Everyone said he was shrewd and marrying a fallen noblewoman must serve some purpose. Yet he gave her a wedding procession stretching ten miles and married her in a proper ceremony. He stood against the entire court for her, and his favoritism was plain for all to see.

“Wanzhao, I’m marrying you for more than just repaying a debt.”

“For these ten years, you’ve been the only one in my heart.”

The court was rife with undercurrents, and an old love pressed closer at every turn.

The Second Prince watched hungrily from the sidelines, while Lu Zhao regretted everything. “Wanzhao, wait for me. I can give you something better.”

Shen Qingyan shielded her behind him, his gaze icy. “My wife is no concern of yours, Marquis’s heir.”

When her father ran into danger in Lingnan, he personally led troops to save him;

when the truth was finally laid bare, she learned that

he had begun preparing her wedding gown three months earlier;

he had quietly remembered every one of her likes for ten whole years;

even the white plum trees in the Zhuxin Courtyard had been planted by his own hand for her.

From a life-saving debt to unwavering love, from mutual respect to pledging themselves to each other through life and death.

In this contest between childhood sweethearts and a love that came out of nowhere, she finally understood:

Some people may seem cold and distant, yet their love runs as deep as the sea;

some fateful encounters may seem like a twist of misfortune, yet they were destined all along.