Yun Ran thought she was lucky.
She lost her memory as a child and wandered from place to place for years. By a twist of fate, she was taken in by Li Heqing, the chief minister of the dynasty.
Rumor had it that Li Heqing was ruthless and cruel. But after Yun Ran entered his household, he had people teach her music, chess, calligraphy, painting, and court etiquette. He never abandoned her just because she was slow-witted and lowborn.
Yun Ran couldn't help falling for Li Heqing, believing that her hardships were finally behind her.
Li Heqing, the most powerful official in the court, wanted only two things: first, to find the younger adoptive sister who had gone missing in their childhood; second, to overthrow the emperor who had caused them to be separated.
He had Yun Ran educated only so he could send her into the imperial palace to take a risk and influence the emperor.
When he noticed Yun Ran's gaze growing ever more fixated on him, Li Heqing, who had never been interested in women, sneered. He assumed he had simply raised another chess piece to his liking.
Until the day Li Heqing returned home drunk. Yun Ran gathered all her courage, approached him, and carefully rose onto her toes to bring her lips close to his.
The drunk Li Heqing froze. A restless yearning surged within him, and he took the initiative, drawing Yun Ran close. A softness and stirring of the heart passed through his eyes, unnoticed even by himself.
The moment their lips touched, Li Heqing came to his senses and shoved her away.
How could he let a lowly chess piece unsettle his heart?
Soon, just as planned, he sent Yun Ran into the palace.
Only on the way to the palace did Yun Ran happen to learn that Li Heqing had never truly cared for her, and that everything he had done before had been calculated to use her.
Devastated and utterly hopeless, Yun Ran resolved to have nothing more to do with Li Heqing and never look back.
But that very night, when the emperor was about to make Yun Ran his consort, Li Heqing suddenly risked the extermination of his entire family and stormed into the emperor's bedchamber with a sword.
His eyes bloodshot, he knelt and bowed his head. "Your Majesty, Yun Ran is the person I cherish most in this life. I am willing to offer up all my wealth and my life, if only you will let her leave the palace and give her a life of safety and freedom."
Li Heqing had always been cold-blooded and heartless. Apart from the adoptive sister he had lost, he had no weakness in this world.
But only in the end did Li Heqing realize that the younger sister he had searched for so desperately had been by his side all along.
Yet by then, he could no longer see her as just a sister.
*One-on-one romance, happy ending, both leads are each other's only partner
Theme: Self-reliance and strength
