Female lead: Lin Wanci (18 before being reborn, returned to age 15)
· Past life: An illegitimate daughter of the Minister of Rites’ household. Her legal mother and younger sister schemed to make her marry in place of the paralyzed heir. Under her sister’s “care” as Crown Princess, she became a political pawn. Only as she lay dying did she learn that her birth mother had been poisoned to death.
· After being reborn: Outwardly a gentle, timid illegitimate daughter, but in truth a revenge seeker, skilled in poisons and meticulous in her plans. She turns tea ceremony and incense into weapons, weaving her schemes in silence.
Male lead: Xiao Zhi (heir to the Prince of Zhenbei, publicly 22)
· Public face: A crippled heir, disabled by war injuries and known for his violent temper, shunned by the imperial family.
· Behind the scenes: The mastermind controlling the secret “Black Crow Guard” network in the northern borderlands. He feigns illness and bides his time, plotting to take over the world. After the female lead sees through his disguise, they move from testing each other to forming an alliance, and eventually become the only people they can trust.
