The “posthumous son” of a marquis’s household on the border, she was raised as a boy by her mother for twenty years to protect the title and military authority her father had given his life to secure. She thought she could inherit them in peace on the frontier, but an imperial edict summoned her to the capital. The emperor wants to arrange a marriage? The powerful families at court want to send men her way? Ridiculous. Instead, she sets her sights on the Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, famous for his cold, merciless manner and lack of interest in women. She blocks his horse in the street and gives him love poems in open court, determined to make the rumor that he’s gay spread throughout the city. Once she gets what she wants, she heads back to the border. But the aloof, noble official follows her all the way to the military camp, eyes red, making trouble for her at every turn because he wants an explanation. It was supposed to be nothing more than a show. How did he take it seriously?
