Synopsis
In the third year of Tianzhen, the Uyghurs suffered a crushing defeat, and the Han army broke through the encirclement. Liang Huaining, a Hu girl, was trapped on the grasslands.
The winds howled across the desolate plains, and food was scarce. With an older brother and a younger sister at home, her family prepared to sell Huaining to a Turkic deserter who had come from the northern frontier, to be his military wife in exchange for food.
Thinking back on her previous life, on the eve of her sale, Liang Huaining had refused to accept her fate and fought with all her might. Instead, Liang Lingxi reported her, and she was brutally beaten by Madam Wang and mocked by her older brother. Her hands and feet were bound, leaving her unable to move.
Given a new life, Liang Huaining knelt and bowed, tears glistening in her eyes. “I am willing to serve Mother and Father.”
She neither cried nor made a fuss. In the dead of night, she climbed over the wall and fled. She did not go begging the arrogant older brother of the neighbor's little Zhi, nor did she plead with the Turkic deserter. Instead, she headed for the Han army, not because military life was particularly good.
It was simply because her identity was no ordinary one.
She was descended from the phoenix, born with a noble destiny, and the legitimate daughter of the current empress. She should have enjoyed every luxury, but when she was eight, a favored imperial concubine secretly forced her to take medicine. Huaining fell unconscious and appeared to die. She should have been buried in the imperial mausoleum, but was instead cast out thousands of li away, in Mongolia, where she endured the elements.
After Liang's father found her and took her in, she suffered hardship and exclusion. She lay low, concealed her true age, and only pretended to be naive.
Now, Liang Huaining carried a tiger tally hidden on her person, waiting for this very day.
Beneath the imperial capital, the emperor's authority reigned supreme. As a hostage prince from Nanyue, Xie Hengyi had humbled himself and made every concession. Coveted by foreign states and despised by his own, he asked for no riches, only a quiet corner where he could live in peace and leisure, free of conflict and infighting.
But caught in the shifting tides of officialdom and at the mercy of others, he had no chance of realizing even this seemingly modest wish.
His trusted aide was brutally killed, his sisters were humiliated, and poison was slipped into his food box…
After a series of open and covert clashes, Xie Hengyi finally came to his senses.
If he sat around waiting to die and kept presenting himself as weak, all he would get was an enemy's bow and someone else's blade!
After a night of deep reflection, Xie Hengyi began laying out an ambitious plan.
But the very next day, the King of Han welcomed foreign hostages and envoys with a languid smile that concealed a blade.
A secret edict came down, and Xie Hengyi was granted a marriage.
The woman he was to marry was Liang, a newly appointed female official of Han. Her rank was low and she had no real power.
It looked like a reward, but was really an insult.
Deep into the night, osmanthus blossoms fell, yet Xie Hengyi remained utterly unconcerned, letting his maid continue pouring the wine.
The person on his mind was the Hu girl who had taken him in on the grasslands for three days.
Note: In the early part of the story, the female lead rises to prominence by relying on others' support.
A sweet romance!
I'm a new writer, so please be kind.
Theme: Love gives two lowly souls a chance at a new life