A sickly, melodramatic, wily beauty, an obsessive fox-like older partner × a spirited, sincere, persistent, affectionate wolf-like younger partner
A journey of redemption through love and being loved.
An urgent report arrived from the border: General Lou Yu had won a great victory against the northern forces. The emperor was delighted and immediately decreed that Lou Yu be made the Prince Who Stands Shoulder to Shoulder with the Emperor. Meng Zhi clenched the white jade hairpin his mother had left him. This was his only chance. The current emperor favored men. In the year he ascended the throne, he married the prime minister’s eldest legitimate son as his empress, and had taken no concubines in the three years since. It was said that Prince He and the emperor had been close since childhood. Perhaps Prince He could save his life.
So when Lou Yu leaned against the rail by Guansui Lake, drinking wine, Meng Zhi admired the view from the bridge. When Lou Yu sat in the Listening to Rain Pavilion to hear the rain, Meng Zhi strolled through the downpour beneath an umbrella, claiming he was out to buy some tea. What a pity if the hero failed to fall for the beauty who had gone to such lengths to tempt him. So Lou Yu turned around and petitioned for an imperial decree to marry Meng Zhi, the eldest legitimate son of the Meng family, and make him his prince consort.
On their wedding night, Lou Yu leaned closer, but Meng Zhi moved away and said calmly, “Your Highness needs a handsome prince consort who has no power or influence, receives no favor, and is easy to control. I need Your Highness to save me from the misery of the Meng family. We each get what we want.”
What an arrangement, each getting what they wanted.
It began with love at first sight, sparked by beauty, and grew into a sincere love that deepened with time.
A Zhi, don’t be afraid. Even if I die, I’ll never let you suffer again.
No, I’m afraid you’ll leave me.
Wasn’t this just an arrangement where we each got what we wanted?
Exactly. I want you to love me, and you want me to love you. We’re each getting what we want. Meng Zhi declared, righteous as could be.
In this paradox we call an arrangement where we each get what we want, my love for you is our evidence in court.
