[A fallen heiress comes to her senses x A powerful nobleman turns his secret love into reality]
Once the pearl of the prime minister's household, Shen Nanyi lost her father and saw her family fall into ruin. Clinging to an old engagement, she married the top scholar of the imperial examinations.
Her husband was a rising star from a humble family. The Shen family had once helped him, but now that her family had fallen, he looked down on her and still pined for his childhood sweetheart, his perfect moonlight.
Two years of marriage brought her not a shred of warmth, only his curt reply: "Your uncle committed a crime. What does that have to do with me?"
On a snowy night, Shen Nanyi cast aside her hairpins and knocked on the doors of the Duke of Zhenguo's residence.
Inside was Pei Zhan, the empress's younger brother and the powerful commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.
He stood in the lamplight, his features as cold and clear as snow that never melted: "You want me to save someone?"
Shen Nanyi knelt and bowed her head to the ground. "Yes."
He leaned down and lifted her chin. "All right. In exchange, you give yourself to me."
Later, everyone in the capital knew that Commander Pei had married a divorced woman, and sneered that he had lowered himself.
But no one knew that the girl who stirred his heart as a boy was her, the one he had secretly watched for years was her, and that his study's hidden cabinet was packed with her portraits.
"If you divorce him, I'll wait for you."
"If you don't want a divorce, becoming a widow is an option too."
"Whenever you turn around, I'm the only one there."
--
"Pei Zhan, what do you want?"
"You."
[Reader's Guide]
1. This is neither a story about an all-powerful heroine nor a wish-fulfillment power fantasy. The heroine is not perfect.
2. I write wherever my dreams take me. If something's wrong, then I'm dreaming!
Blurb completed: December 28, 2025
Coming soon: A Lovely Tang Blossom in the Northern Frontier. Blurb:
Everyone in Zhongzhou says the Yun family's daughter, Yun Zhao, is blessed.
Though her father died in battle, she was adopted by the emperor and became a princess, turning misfortune into good fortune.
Only Yun Zhao knows that she is a princess in name only, and that she has to tread carefully every day.
The emperor is incompetent, favors petty men, and distances himself from worthy officials. The court is in disarray, while four princes of different surnames, each commanding a powerful army, eye the throne from the borders.
In this turbulent age, Yun Zhao is the least important piece on the board.
In the sixteenth year of Ding'an, the four princes were summoned to the capital, and Shen Su, heir to the Prince of Dingbei, asked for a princess's hand in marriage.
The northern frontier was bitterly cold, and none of the emperor's own daughters wanted to marry off there, so Yun Zhao was put forward.
The northern frontier was a free and open place where one could gallop horses and fly falcons. Yun Zhao dreamed of returning, but not yet.
She had spent years biding her time in the palace and was just one step away from exposing the mastermind and clearing her father's name.
But Shen Su barged in at just that moment and upended all her plans.
After the imperial decree was issued, Yun Zhao cornered Shen Su in the rear garden, her eyes blazing with anger. "Marry, marry, marry? Marry your own head! Who asked you to meddle?"
Leaning against a rockery, Shen Su grinned like he was asking to be punched. "At the rate your plan's going, it'll take forever. Come with me. The northern frontier is vast and open. Whatever you want to do, I'll help make it happen."
Yun Zhao: clever, resilient, and adaptable VS Shen Su: decisive and fiercely protective
Theme: Looking back from the depths of the abyss, every step is a step upward
