Marriage first, love later. Period setting + sweet romance, everyday life + political intrigue
The eldest Lin daughter, Lin Xiangning, has lost both parents, and her younger brother is still a child. Her aunt is alluring, and her younger sister is spoiled. She drives a donkey cart, chases down bad debts, and grinds sesame oil, carrying the whole family on her frail shoulders.
On a nighttime road, she encounters a tiger and barely escapes its jaws. To her surprise, she comes away with a man even more handsome than her fiancé.
She doesn’t know that the poison in the arrow wound on his chest is called “Monkey Drunk,” a torture drug used by the Black-Robed Guards. Nor does she know that the light in his eyes when he hears the name “Lin Xiuning” hides a long-forgotten piece of her past. She also doesn’t know that, gazing at the woman in a painting, he once murmured, “If we ever meet again, I will marry you!”
And she has no idea that his arrival will take her from the sesame oil mill into the vast borderlands...
All she knows is that this man is as beautiful as a painting, but there may be a knife hidden in it.
Together, they’ll stay hand in hand and grow old side by side, root out treacherous officials, and protect their home and country. Even in troubled times, a beautiful love story is possible, and ordinary people too can protect China.
It's a bit difficult to put a lot of ideas into practice on paper