[Strong-willed, no-nonsense villainous heiress x spirited, long-suffering prince]
[Content notes: slow-burn character growth / not a powerful heroine / the heroine is an ordinary person with a stubborn streak who really does bully people / a little kindergarten-level political scheming / the male lead appears late]
Everyone in the capital knew two things.
First, Yun Ci, the Yun family’s adopted son, was gentle as jade and charming to everyone. He was the ideal man in everyone’s heart.
Second, Yun Youyi, the Yun family’s legitimate daughter, was spoiled and overbearing, and bullied her adopted brother. She was a notorious villainess in the capital.
But no one knew why Yun Youyi targeted Xie Yunci so viciously.
There were two people Yun Youyi hated more than anyone in the world.
One was her father. He brought the son of an old friend into the general’s residence and adopted him, causing her mother to give her heart to the wrong person and waste away in grief.
The other was Xie Yunci. He was the son of her father’s first love. After learning the truth, he stayed in order to survive, becoming a thorn in her mother’s heart.
She hated him. From childhood to young adulthood, she took revenge on him and bullied him. He accepted it all without complaint, never even crying out in pain, and would even cover for her.
That was what she hated most. The more he endured, the more he made her look like a villain.
When she was sixteen, she plotted to ruin his promising marriage and destroy his reputation. Instead, he turned her plan against her and forced her to marry him.
On their wedding night, she pulled out a hairpin and stabbed him.
He said, “Shengsheng, you can’t kill me yet. Stay alive and remain by my side. That’s the only way you’ll get the chance to ruin me.”
Later, she really did it. She got exactly what she wanted, but found no relief.
Then she met Pei Shunnian, the prince who lived like a shadow in the palace. He wanted nothing and asked for nothing. Whenever she could no longer go on, he simply stayed by her side in silence.
In a life consumed by hatred, he was a warm, gentle ray of light.
