He Tang | Chen Ze
Rose | Wild grass
Everyone in Tianzhong Prefecture knew that He Tang was the pampered young lady of the Yangshan Sect leader, spoiled, overbearing, and unreasonable. She was highly skilled in martial arts, but had the rough manners of a bandit.
Chen Ze was a little beggar who had wandered all the way from Huashan to Yangshan. Since his parents might have been from the Valley of Ten Thousand Butterflies, the little beggar suddenly became He Tang's adoptive older brother.
He Tang was, of course, unhappy about this. She made his life difficult every day, ordering him to do the laundry, cook, and serve her tea, treating him like a servant.
Chen Ze wasn't about to take that lying down. Whenever he got the chance, he ran to He Tang's father to complain about her, earning He Tang another scolding.
Before long, the two had practically become mortal enemies.
Then Chen Ze told someone else that he wanted to marry her, and rumors spread throughout the Yangshan Sect.
She saw Chen Ze as her older brother, yet he liked her and wanted to marry her? What kind of behavior was that? He Tang had always cared about propriety and shame. In a fit of anger, she severed the tendons in his legs and never wanted to see him again.
Chen Ze said nothing. He took his leave of the sect leader and dragged his broken body away from Yangshan, away from her.
Five years later
Chen Ze saw He Tang again on the day she was to marry Xiao Lan.
Without a word, he abducted the bride.
After He Tang was carried off, her usual arrogance faded. The young man before her was no longer the timid boy he had once been. Somewhat puzzled, she asked,
"Who taught you martial arts all these years, Brother? The Huashan Sect or the Night Rain Cult? How did you get strong enough to beat me?"
Chen Ze let her go and stared straight at her. A metallic sweetness rose in his throat.
Five years. Five whole years apart, and the first thing she asked was about my martial arts? She doesn't care about me at all. She still calls me Brother. Do I have to wish her and her sweetheart a happy marriage that lasts a hundred years?
At the thought, Chen Ze suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood, making He Tang jump.
He wiped away the blood and looked at He Tang as he said without warning,
"He Tang, I'm not your brother. I'm just a beggar who got to mooch off you by trading on the reputation of the Valley of Ten Thousand Butterflies. How could I possibly be worthy of being your brother?"
Chen Ze had intended to take revenge on her, to kidnap her and humiliate her thoroughly. But when he saw He Tang in her wedding dress, only one thought remained in his mind.
"At least she hasn't become someone else's wife."
His heart aching, he suddenly remembered Li He's poem "The Bitterness of the Short Day" and nearly burst into tears.
"Fly on, light, fly on, let me offer you a cup of wine.
I know not how high the blue sky, nor how deep the yellow earth lies.
I see only the cold moon and warm sun, burning through human lives."
[Reader's Guide]
Childhood sweethearts + both leads are sexually inexperienced + cold-faced male lead does the laundry + beautiful, strong, and proud female lead + the male lead suffers physical and emotional abuse
Theme: None
