Cool, powerful minister Song Guancang × scheming beauty Ye Jinglan
Also known as "Love Across the Canglan"
Ye Jinglan, a favored concubine of Prince Liang, is ordered by him to disguise herself as a musician from Xiangyun Tower and approach Song Guancang, the grandson of Grand Secretary Song.
Though young, Song Guancang is a little old-fashioned. He avoids women and strictly observes the rites of a gentleman.
Ye Jinglan's ploy of pretending to be injured nearly freezes her to death, but at last Song Guancang takes her back to the Song residence.
To win his trust, Ye Jinglan pulls out all the stops: she cooks for him, helps him bathe and change, and even climbs into his bed. Song Guancang remains unmoved, rejecting her decisively. He even stops returning to his own residence to avoid her.
Her original plan was to make Song Guancang lose his head with desire, then coax him into betraying Prince Liang. She has no choice but to put that plan aside. While Song Guancang is away, Ye Jinglan sneaks into his study and steals confidential documents.
Song Guancang is a trusted confidant of the emperor. Prince Zhao wants to befriend him and sends a woman to his side. Song Guancang politely turns her down. Later, he sees Ye Jinglan, the woman he rejected, kneeling in the ice. Prince Zhao's men have drenched her with icy water. In the depths of winter, her face is deathly pale, and she shivers uncontrollably.
Song Guancang takes her back to his residence. He lets her stay there under the pretense that she is a distant cousin, giving her a temporary place to live.
To repay his kindness, Ye Jinglan cooks for him, but the food tastes so strange that Song Guancang can't bear to dampen her excitement and anticipation. He forces himself to finish it, only to suffer from diarrhea for three days.
Ye Jinglan offers to help him bathe and change, but ends up pouring a ladle of water into his ear.
To make up for it, she climbs into his bed.
Song Guancang never expected her to be so frightened and uneasy. He closes his eyes and fumbles for a blanket to drape over her. "You don't have to do this."
Song Guancang is busy with government affairs and does not return to his residence for half a month.
One day, he brings back the contract that freed Ye Jinglan from Xiangyun Tower. He thought this would let her stop living in fear, worried that he might send her back there.
But Ye Jinglan is nowhere to be found at the Song residence.
Afraid that the people from Xiangyun Tower or Prince Zhao might give her trouble, Song Guancang searches for her everywhere, only to see Ye Jinglan climb into Prince Liang's carriage.
Hidden in the shadows, Song Guancang hears the entire scene of passion.
He thought she belonged to Prince Zhao, and that without Prince Zhao's protection, she must have had a hard life. He never imagined she was Prince Liang's woman.
Prince Zhao means nothing to her, and neither does he, Song Guancang.
Perhaps she never needed that deed of redemption in the first place.
Ye Jinglan never expected to be exposed so quickly. When she hurries back to the Song residence, Song Guancang, who has just returned, catches her red-handed.
Song Guancang asks where she went. Ye Jinglan lies instinctively, saying only that she went to see an old friend.
Unexpectedly, Song Guancang, who has always abided by the ways of a gentleman, gently pulls open the collar of her robe and asks with remarkable calm, "Is this a friend who leaves kiss marks on you?"
Ye Jinglan doesn't know how to answer. She's already prepared to be thrown out, but Song Guancang gazes steadily at her. "Break things off with the people from before, and I'll marry you. I can protect you, too."
Prince Liang has a favored concubine who is clever and quick-witted. Convinced she would never betray him, he entrusts her with the important task of going undercover.
Who could have guessed that she would not only run away, but also elope with his strategist, Nangong Yin, the brains behind all his plans? This... this is simply too much!
Please note before reading:
1. The heroine is not career-driven or exceptionally strong.
2. This is not a commissioned work. I do not accept writing advice.
3. The literary title is "Love Across the Canglan."
Theme: The newcomer surpasses those who came before.
