Together Through the Spring Breeze

Lu Jingxing, son of the General Who Guards the North, rejects a political marriage by “confessing his love” to Su Mobai, an upright censor, at a palace banquet. Overnight, rumors that the two men are lovers set the capital abuzz. Under pressure from all sides, the Eldest Princess offers them a contract: pretend to be a couple for three years, and she will keep the Lu family’s borders at peace and give the Su family a chance to clear their name. The two men join forces for their own interests, but amid court intrigue they become each other’s support, and amid the flames of war in the north they entrust each other with their lives. From the imperial examination case to the military funds scandal, from threats by noble clans to near-death on the battlefield, their schemes gradually become true affection, and their contract grows warm. When the three years are up, they refuse the easy escape of faking their deaths and choose the perilous path of staying together in the light. They trade military power for freedom and official glory for true love, facing impeachment from the entire court, family pressure, and even a coup that puts their lives at stake. In the end, they leave the imperial capital and settle in Jiangnan. They open an academy, establish a clinic, and take in orphans, spending the rest of their lives together amid the everyday warmth of home. What begins with schemes ends in true love: Nothing in this world is rarer than weathering the spring breeze together and growing old side by side.