A brilliant, proud beauty × a cold-faced, lovesick general
He wasn't her type, but she fell hopelessly in love with him anyway.
Meng Qingwan did not like her ex-husband, Li Heng.
She was a celebrated literary talent in the capital, and she and Li Heng, an illiterate military officer, had little in common to talk about.
Li Heng also found his former wife a little difficult.
He was a young marquis who spent most of his time on the battlefield. He had yet to develop a taste for romance, and had no idea how to treat a refined, fastidious young lady. He was always afraid of making her unhappy.
But an imperial edict of marriage bound them together. With so many years ahead of them, neither wanted to become a bitter couple. So they did their best to treat each other well, trying to become the kind of loving spouses who showed one another respect.
Unfortunately, before they had time to develop feelings, a conspiracy led the emperor to issue another edict, ordering them to divorce. Their marriage ended in haste after two years.
After the divorce, Meng Qingwan read, wrote poetry, pursued scholarship, and drank tea, debated philosophy, played the zither, and painted with a charming, handsome man who had placed third in the palace examinations. Her life was even more carefree than it had been before the divorce.
Li Heng, however, did not see it that way.
He felt guilty that he had failed to refuse the emperor's divorce decree. “I was your husband, but I couldn't protect you. That was my fault.”
He also thought the gifted scholar who had placed third in the palace examinations was a poor match for her. “He can't stay devoted to one person. He'll make you unhappy.”
Her once-steady, imposing ex-husband had suddenly become fiercely competitive, even going so far as to become her lover without a name or title.
“I climbed over the wall to get here. No one will see me.”
[Reader's Guide]
1. The leads barely knew each other before they married. There is no secret crush before marriage; their feelings develop after they marry and after they divorce.
2. During their marriage, the heroine is not made to serve her in-laws or suffer their abuse. Their main problem before the divorce is their very different temperaments and interests, and the fact that they both assume there is plenty of time and fail to realize their feelings in time.
3. The hero is pure in body and heart, with no romantic interest besides the heroine. After their divorce, the heroine dates the scholar who placed third in the palace examinations, but the hero soon breaks them up. The scholar is a good person; he and the heroine are simply not right for each other.
Blurb posted January 8, 2026, revised August 8, 2026, and a screenshot has been saved.
Theme: True love conquers imperial power.
