Tan Zhou, ruler of the Central Plains, was cruel, treacherous, and infamous. He laid a trap with a banquet, drawing eight states and one clan into it, demanding tribute in exchange for peace. It was a perilous gamble, with death all but certain.
Ying Zhihui was forced to take her younger sister's place and accept the Hao clan's death order: assassinate the tyrant of Nanwu. But she was ambushed along the way and plunged into a river gorge.
When she awoke, she was in the gladiator arena of Tancheng, reduced to a plaything for the powerful to gamble over. To survive, Ying Zhihui decided to find some useless fool in the cell to take the fall for her.
She set her sights on the new fool.
He had fair, luminous skin and a handsome, adorable face. Too bad he was a bit slow-witted.
Still, she liked him very much.
She secretly placed her hand on the little fool's firm chest and shamelessly took liberties.
The little fool's eyes reddened as he fought back tears. "What are you doing?"
"Uh, teaching you how to defend yourself."
The forbidden mountain of the gladiator arena was fraught with danger.
Tan Zhou, the tyrant of Nanwu, found himself constantly indulged and protected by a delicate, beautiful young man.
It wasn't until they stood beneath a waterfall that he realized the beautiful young man was actually a woman disguised as a man. Through the mist rising from the water, he saw the woman standing with her back to him, her skin as fair as jade. She smiled as she skimmed her hands over the water, like a lotus rising from the pond. She had managed to deceive him for so long.
Tan Zhou had always loathed anyone who deceived him.
He should have killed her.
But instead, the words slipped out: "Brother, will you leave me one day?"
"Our little brother is so sweet and adorable. How could I bear to leave you behind?" she replied.
Tan Zhou believed her.
Until the day her sword plunged deep into him.
Later, he cornered her at the edge of a cliff, gripping her chin. There was not a trace of foolishness left in his eyes.
"I'll give you just two choices." He bent down, lips against her ear, his voice so hoarse it barely sounded human. "Kill me, and the Hao clan will be no more."
"Or, for your people, keep deceiving me. Love me... and kiss me."
[Reading Guide]
· The heroine is one year older than the hero: an older-woman-younger-man romance.
· Plot-driven, with extensive fictional worldbuilding. This is a fictional setting, so don't scrutinize it for historical accuracy.
Theme: My fate is mine to command, not Heaven's to decide.
