In the autumn of Jian’an’s seventeenth year, Shen Shuyu, the second son of the Chancellor, was implicated in the Crown Prince’s case. His father sent him to a country villa at the foot of Qingping Mountain under the pretext of letting him recuperate.
Shen Shuyu had a pair of captivating eyes, with slightly upturned corners that made his gaze seem like spring water about to overflow. Ever since childhood, he had known how useful his looks could be. He never flaunted them deliberately; a slight lowering of his eyes or a gentle upward glance was enough to make people willingly do his bidding. Everyone in the household and among his colleagues in the capital favored him.
At the estate on Qingping Mountain, he met a young hunter who wore a veil. He taught him to read, gave him a courtesy name, and two years later, in the autumn, his elder brother brought him back to the capital. In the years that followed, he placed third in the palace examinations and entered government service, rising from seventh-rank compiler to second-rank Minister of the Court of Judicial Review. He remained composed amid rumors and met his political rivals’ provocations with gentle courtesy. Everyone at court called him refined and capable, yet few noticed what lay beneath those captivating eyes: the clear-headedness of someone who had manipulated pawns since childhood, and the restraint of someone who had turned beauty into a blade without ever cutting himself.
His whole life, he had been good at making people soften toward him: his elder brother, the Crown Prince, and the young general who returned from the northern frontier.
He simply never expected someone to see through every one of his tricks and still willingly step into his game.
Devoted, sweet-faced schemer top × unhinged, sickly beauty, cunning bottom
