Transmigrating as an illegitimate daughter of a marquis’s household, Su Wanwan finds herself from the start bundled off by her legal mother and elder sister to Prince Jing’s manor. She is to be a substitute bride for the cold war god known for his fearsome reputation as the “Jade-Faced Yama.”
On their wedding night, she clutches her skirt in fright, then suddenly hears the thoughts of the icy prince above her: [Her hands are shaking? Am I being too scary?]
Su Wanwan: “?”
She later discovers that she has somehow gained a unique mind-reading ability. She is the only person in the world who can hear the inner monologue of this iron-blooded prince:
“She brought me tea! It’s the perfect temperature! Does she like me?”
“That pretty boy dares look at her? Chop him up! (Calm down. Be dignified.)”
“The garden she designed is lovely… I want to praise her so much. No, people will laugh at me.”
In public, he is Prince Jing, a taciturn, icy man who keeps everyone at a distance, indifferent and detached when they are betrothed and decisive and merciless when trouble arises. In private, he is an awkward romantic, innocent and overflowing with inner monologue, secretly sending her a warm carriage and arranging jasmine for her. When his poison flares up, he endures the pain just so he won’t frighten her.
Keeping this earth-shattering secret to herself, Su Wanwan plays along with their contract marriage, pretending they are a couple who treat each other with icy courtesy, while quietly spoiling the prince who says one thing and means another. She designs healing gardens to ease his strange poison, uses modern know-how to help him avoid palace schemes, and accompanies him on campaign to resolve battlefield crises.
But she doesn’t know that the prince, afflicted with the “Lovesick Curse” that makes him suffer whenever he falls in love, has already given her his heart through all his secretly affectionate acts, even as he insists he dislikes her. When the court’s schemes come to light and forces from the previous dynasty begin to stir, he grips her hand, his thoughts burning: [In this life, I’ll protect you and help you soar.]
Su Wanwan smiles, her eyes curving as she leans close to his ear:
