Has Lord Wen's Identity Been Exposed Today?

In the second year of Chengping, Wen Zhao, the newly appointed prefect of Cangzhou, has two worries:

One is the official hat on her head, which could fall off at any moment.

The other is the wife at home, who seems to have seen through everything.

She thinks this marriage began as a scheme.

When she handed over the letter saying that she had a hidden ailment and might never bear children, she was ready to be despised.

But she doesn't know that when Xie Wanyi accepted the marriage certificate, she let out a quiet sigh in her heart.

What a fool.

Three years ago, through a crack in the dressing-room door,

she had already seen that strip of white silk.

**

Later, the trail in the Qingzhou salt-smuggling case went cold at a singing house.

Wen Zhao agonized over it all day. When she returned to her room late that night, she saw her wife sitting at the dressing table, drawing her brows in the mirror.

"My lord, are you investigating a case?" Xie Wanyi looked back with a smile and pinned in the last pearl ornament.

"As it happens, I've just learned a new song."

Later still, blood stained the Yangtze when a tribute ship from Jinling was attacked.

Wen Zhao was trapped in a bandit den. Through the flames, she saw a small sedan chair with blue curtains break through the night.

The curtain lifted. Her wife stepped out, lifting her bloodstained skirt, smiling brightly.

"They said kidnapping an official's wife would force you to obey."

"But they don't know..."

"The person who stands beside you has never been an official's wife in need of protection."

[Reader's Guide]

√ The first few chapters may be a little stream-of-consciousness when it comes to the romance.

√ In public, the protagonist is always known as a man, but this is never openly revealed. (PS: Xie Wanyi has always known!)

√ Set in an imaginary dynasty.

√ Mystery-solving arcs and political intrigue. The couple work together to rise from the provinces to the capital.

√ The romance is sweet from beginning to end, and the cases are action-packed throughout.

Theme: May flowers of equality bloom in the cracks of the feudal order.