The Captive Beauty of the South

When disaster struck her family, Yu Rong was left with an eye condition that made it impossible for her to see in the light.

Fortunately, her fiance, Yun Heng, never abandoned her. He found her a place to live, sought out the best doctors in the capital, and always took care of her himself. When she felt helpless, he comforted her: "Don't worry. From now on, I'll be your eyes."

Even her little maid sighed, "The heir really does love you deeply, miss."

Whenever Yu Rong thought of the bright, handsome young man she'd met during their introduction, a light, sweet smile would play on her lips.

-

In Yu Rong's heart, she and Yun Heng were going to marry eventually, so there was no harm in being a little more intimate.

He loved to tease her, covering her already blurry vision with white silk and then... drawing pictures for her to guess.

The red brush swept across, sending a shiver through her. Yu Rong was so shy she could hardly bear it.

He was always gentle and patient.

When she guessed correctly, he would praise her with a soft laugh. "Little Fish is so clever."

When she got it wrong, he would patiently tell her, "It's all right. Let's try again."

With his encouragement, Yu Rong gradually came out of her shell and dared to blush as she responded to his ardent affection.

Until one day, after a fall, her sight unexpectedly returned.

Yu Rong secretly kept it from him, planning to surprise him.

That evening, the peerlessly handsome young man stepped into the courtyard, bathed in the glow of sunset. Yu Rong smiled and turned her head. "A-Heng, you're here, "

The man wore a dark robe, exuding an imposing air. He gently took her hand. "Why are you running around? What if you hurt yourself again, hmm?"

It was the same voice that had encouraged and comforted her all this time.

But Yu Rong's face turned deathly pale.

This man was not Yun Heng.

When she was young, she had once accompanied her father to the capital and seen him from afar.

He was Yun Heng's cousin, the crown prince of the dynasty.

Li Mu.

-

Li Mu was the crown prince of the Zhou Dynasty. He was immensely noble and highly sought after, and from childhood he had been taught to show neither joy nor sorrow, and to desire and cling to nothing.

Twenty years of a life as austere as water had bored him to death. His cousin Yun Heng teased him, calling him an ascetic monk.

Then, on a trip to Hangzhou, among the lotus blossoms in the winding gardens, he encountered a pair of clear, limpid eyes.

She was the daughter of the prefect, his cousin's fiancee, whom he had come to meet for the betrothal.

After that, in his dreams, those eyes were always clouded with mist, wet and red from being bullied.

When she mistook him for Yun Heng, Li Mu gazed at her for a moment and, against all reason, let her believe it.

-

At first, Li Mu liked how obediently she let him do as he pleased.

Later, he discovered that there was something quite interesting about watching his prey notice the danger and struggle to escape its golden cage.

Yu Rong thought she had escaped, only to fall straight into his trap.

He took her to watch Yun Heng pay respects to her memorial tablet from the shadows, then smiled and said, "Now, you're mine forever, Little Fish."

Reading Guide:

1. Both are virgins. An honest, helpless blind girl x a possessive, hypocritical crown prince.

Theme: One lie takes a hundred more to cover up