Hai Yunshu had been on edge for the past few days.
She overheard her imperial brother discussing with the great general a plan to marry her off to the Northern Barbarians to secure peace. After spending ten years there as a hostage, she knew exactly what kind of place it was.
Hai Yunshu thought, even if she had to die, she would die in Yongzhao City. She would never set foot in the Northern Barbarians' lands again.
So she struck a deal with the disgraced official she had abducted: she would help him return to the court, and he had to make sure she could stay in Yongzhao City forever.
But the old foxes at court were all shrewder than the last. Hai Yunshu could barely read, and she was nowhere near clever enough to outmaneuver them. Fortunately, the disgraced official was capable enough to manage without her help.
Afraid he might betray her at the last minute after she'd been no use to him, Hai Yunshu decided to try another approach. Since she had to marry someone anyway, she would find a handsome young man in the capital and marry him first. Then she wouldn't have to go to the Northern Barbarians to face the wind and sand.
Wen Xinglian was a cold and indifferent man. He had barely had time to enjoy his new position when his family dragged him down with them, landing him in prison and exile.
Outsiders said he was incredibly lucky to win the favor of the Grand Princess. Even a prisoner had a chance to return to officialdom. Only he knew that Hai Yunshu wasn't as innocent and naive as she appeared to others. In truth, she was eccentric, obsessive, and mad.
Wen Xinglian needed her help to return to the court, so he had no choice but to endure whatever she did to him, waiting for the day he held power in his own hands and could escape this madwoman.
But at some point, he realized he was becoming more and more obedient to Hai Yunshu, and his gaze kept following her without his meaning to:
When Young Master Zhao passed by, she praised how handsome he was;
Today, she dragged the Empress along to spend the whole day choosing a husband for herself, and came back a whole incense stick later than expected;
Wen Xinglian's expression grew darker, and the string inside him drew tighter and tighter.
Until one day, Hai Yunshu unlocked the golden chain around his ankle and said that men from Jiangnan suited her better. She had asked to return to her fief, and he was free.
Wen Xinglian clearly heard the string inside him snap in two.
One-on-one, both leads' first relationship, happy ending
Blurb written 2026.4.9
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Theme: Live well
My hobby in reading novels is to have a male protagonist who is clean physically and mentally and has no faults with others. . . May I ask about both places? Is the male protagonist's first love with the female protagonist? Is there anyone else with whom he has an ambiguous love history?