Hairpinning Power, Playing for Joy: The Marquis's Consort Wants His Looks, Not His Love

With the imperial court of the Great Jing Dynasty locked in a delicate balance of power, the emperor issued an edict arranging a marriage between Fang Yao, the Taifu’s legitimate daughter, and He Heng, the Marquis of Jing’an, who commanded the capital’s troops.

Fang Yao was the youngest legitimate daughter of the Taifu’s household. Brilliant but spirited, she had two great passions in life: admiring handsome men and plotting schemes. When she heard upon receiving the imperial decree that He Heng was the most handsome man in all of Great Jing, her eyes lit up and she happily accepted. She thought only, “Marrying a top-tier hunk means I get to admire his face every day. What a bargain!” She had no idea what marital affection meant.

He Heng, the Marquis of Jing’an, was twenty-two. Born into a family distinguished by military service, he was nevertheless a master of intrigue. He appeared cold, refined, and indifferent to women, but beneath the surface he was unfathomably cunning. He saw the marriage as a political pawn, until their wedding night, when he discovered that his silly new marchioness, who cared only about his looks, could expose a secret court plant he had spent three months painstakingly putting in place, all with a single remark the morning after their wedding.

From then on, life at the marquis’s residence became a routine of “she fawns over his looks, he secretly spoils her; she breaks the schemes, he cleans up after her.” She treated him like “the handsomest husband ever, a pretty ornament,” while he indulged her until she could do whatever she pleased. She gradually fell for him amid his sweet little gestures, without realizing it, while he became more and more deeply attached to her with every political maneuver. From “a marriage in name only” to “facing life and death together,” from “only wanting his looks” to “only wanting him,” everyone is sharp-witted, and the sweetness is in all the details, never cloying. A first-marriage, then-love romance full of irresistible tension.