At the Grand Yan court, women hold power, and the pleasure quarters are a prison from which those registered as entertainers can rarely escape.
Tang Yuan, a courtesan at Yiyun House, has the stunning, delicate beauty of a white flower, but beneath it lies a heart full of cold calculation. He schemes against other courtesans, keeps wealthy patrons dangling, and leaves noblewomen utterly infatuated. He teases but never gives in, treating their favor as leverage and flirtation as his way out.
Heaven finally smiled on him and brought a rising star from a humble family before him.
Shen Xuanyan had no parents, an ambition that ran bone-deep, and eyes fixed only on power and position. She was as hard as iron. Looking at this promising third-place palace exam graduate, Tang Yuan had just one thought: She has no family ties or obligations, so she is the most likely to marry me and free me from my entertainer's registration.
He did everything he could to tempt her, drawing closer one step at a time and laying his plans carefully, until at last he had won her over.
Shen Xuanyan was so proud that she had always believed her Yuanyuan was gentle on the outside and pure-hearted within. She admired his talent and grace, asked for no wealth or glory, and wanted only his affection.
Who could have guessed he was a black-hearted sweet dumpling? He had even dared to scheme against her!
She won in the political arena and rose to high office, then turned around and punished him for using her. She would not marry him, only keep him as a lover, confining him to a small courtyard.
He thought he had soared to the highest branch, only to find himself fallen into an even deeper cage.
Shen Xuanyan would clip his wings, pluck the thorns from her rose, and keep him firmly in her grasp, until her little dumpling had eyes and a heart for her alone.
