We Couldn’t Stand Each Other, Until We Became a Pair

The capital has two notorious troublemakers.

One is Jun Yingjue, the general’s only son. He is a superb martial artist and strikingly handsome, but always wears a cold expression and acts as if everyone owes him eight million taels. He can’t stand scholars, saying they’re all about benevolence and righteousness on the surface, but scheming underneath.

The other is Qin Xuan, whom the chancellor claims is his only son. Beautiful as a girl and gentle by nature, he comes first in his studies at the Imperial Academy every year. He can’t stand Jun Yingjue’s obnoxious “I’m the greatest under heaven” attitude.

They first met when they were eight. Jun Yingjue slapped the osmanthus cake out of Qin Xuan’s hand. “What’s a girly boy like you eating that for?”

Qin Xuan retaliated by smearing the crumbs all over his face. “A brute like you should stick to plain steamed buns.”

And so began thirteen years of bickering.

At court, Jun Yingjue accused Chancellor Qin of building a faction and abusing his power. Qin Xuan immediately impeached the general for keeping too many troops under his command. Their fathers glared and stroked their beards at the Hall of Supreme Harmony, while the two sons nearly came to blows outside Meridian Gate.

Later, when the Xiongnu invaded, Jun Yingjue volunteered to lead the campaign. On the eve of his departure, Qin Xuan secretly slipped him a sheaf of prescriptions. Look closely, and the handwriting was a woman’s delicate, flower-like script.

For three months, the borderlands were drenched in blood, while Qin Xuan’s secret reports flew into the central command tent like snowflakes: which officials at the Ministry of Revenue were skimping on military provisions, and which civil servants were secretly colluding with the enemy.

“Don’t you hate scholars the most?” Jun Yingjue asked at the victory banquet, pinning him against a pillar.

Qin Xuan sneered. “I hate you dying in someone else’s hands even more.”

“Funny, I feel the same.” He lowered his head and kissed the scar at the corner of her lips. “My life is yours to take.”