[Unhinged General x Fallen Kingdom's Courtesan, Clearheaded Heroine, The Heroine Chasing the Hero into Regret, Captive Love, Beautiful Tragedy]
[Calculating Hero Who Falls for Her on His Own vs. Bewitching, Cunning, Drama-Queen Heroine]
Hua Jiu is the most famous courtesan in the capital, and a surviving royal of the former dynasty, hiding in plain sight.
When Yan Chen returns victorious, he is tricked into spending a night of passion with a courtesan from the pleasure quarter.
At their first meeting, Yan Chen decides she's a heartless performer from the pleasure district. He tells her to become his mistress, as though it were a gift to her.
Hua Jiu only plays along with him, until she learns the truth: he is the son of the man who destroyed her kingdom. The warmth that had always shone in her eyes vanishes.
She makes her performance even more convincing, taking an arrow for him, testing poison, and having her voice ruined. To win his favor, she drags him down to hell.
On their wedding night, she plunges a dagger into his chest. He smiles and grips the blade, thinking she's just throwing a tantrum.
He thinks he doesn't love her, until she fakes her death and escapes.
He goes mad, determined to find her even if he has to turn the whole world upside down.
Then, in Jiangnan, he hears a familiar melody again: "The flowers bloom in all their purple and crimson splendor..."
With reddened eyes, he pins her in a corner. "Jiu'er, please stop this... They say performers have no hearts, but isn't this whole city singing in the rain for me?"
Before Hua Jiu can push him away, another man wraps an arm around her waist and pulls her into his embrace. "A Jiu, why don't you invite our guest inside?"
Yan Chen glares furiously at the hand around Hua Jiu's waist, ready to kill the man in a fit of madness.
Ignoring his frenzy, Hua Jiu introduces the man beside her. "Enough. This is my husband."
Yan Chen goes mad and locks her inside his estate. If he can't have her heart, then he'll have her body.
