【Woman Disguised as a Man + Capital Offense + Two Equally Matched Leads + Tense Push and Pull + Regretful Pursuit + Wedding Crashing】
Shen Qingjin dons men's clothes and takes up a post as an instructor at the county school, using the identity of “the Shen family's young master,” the name her late father had given her.
For a woman to hold office is a capital offense, but she has to stand her ground.
Her direct superior, Lu Shixing, is the newly appointed education commissioner tasked with reforming the imperial examinations, and the only person who sees through her at a glance.
He admires “his” scholarly talent and treats “him” as his favorite student.
The more he protects her, the greater the danger she faces.
He has long been suspicious, but he doesn't dare investigate. If he confirms the truth, the law says she must die.
They test each other, help each other, and keep secrets from each other.
There is one thing she cannot say: she is a woman.
There is one feeling he dare not admit: why does he insist on keeping this person by his side?
Later, the academy is saved.
She arranges her own funeral.
“Instructor Shen” dies in Linjiang, and the people of Linjiang erect a monument in his honor.
She changes back into women's clothes and resumes her own name, burying the days she spent with him along with everything else.
When he reaches Linjiang, all he finds is an empty coffin.
Later, he tracks her all the way to Jiangnan and stands before her, calling her “Miss Shen.”
She plays dumb and denies everything.
She thinks that if she refuses to acknowledge it, she can erase him from her life for good.
Until the day of her wedding.
The red candles burn bright as she stands in her wedding dress and bows her head to begin the ceremony. Suddenly, silence falls outside the hall.
Lu Shixing, dressed in his official robes, walks through the crowd and comes to a stop before her.
He brings no wedding gift, only the instructor's appointment document she wrote by hand three years ago.
“You want to marry someone? Did you ask me first?”
