Mobei princess Moduolou Tanada fled her arranged marriage, only to stumble straight into a deadly trap set by Liu Daocheng, Chief Justice of the Dali Temple. A mysterious pair of matching jade pendants bound these two complete opposites together, forcing them to stay within ten paces of each other.
He was the embodiment of Ming law, a severe germophobe who put ritual and propriety above all else and kept even a single hair perfectly in place. She was a wild fox of the grasslands, guided by astonishing instincts, accustomed to eating raw meat and drinking blood, and loathed being constrained by rules.
If she moved more than ten paces away from him, her heart meridians would shatter. If he moved more than ten paces away from her, he would vomit blood on the spot.
So, on a desperate escape where death lurked at every turn, Liu Daocheng had to endure this woman grabbing meat with her hands and sleeping wherever she pleased. Tanada, in turn, had to watch this man neatly fold his official robes even as assassins chased them. From surviving in the wilderness to swapping souls, from despising one another to entrusting each other with their lives, they crossed thousands of miles of mountains and rivers and saw the deepest scars each had hidden.
When the curse was lifted, the rules of propriety in the capital became an even bigger cage. At last, Liu Daocheng, ever composed and restrained, tore up the imperial decree in full view of everyone and stripped off his crimson official robe. “No matter how many rules this world has, they can't keep Tanada of the grasslands captive.”
