Su Wantang, a concubine-born daughter of the Yong'an Marquis household, was raised from childhood in a remote courtyard where few paid her any attention. Though quiet and gentle by nature, she had mastered the art of medicine and knew how to conceal her sharp edges amid the fickleness of human nature. Her legitimate elder sister feared the rumors swirling through the capital and would rather die than marry Shen Yanci, the bloodstained commander of the Embroidered Guard who presided over the imperial prison. So the marquis household cast Su Wantang aside, sending her in a sedan chair to the heavily guarded Zhenfu Office to take her sister's place as the wife of Shen, a man everyone avoided.
Everyone said Shen Yanci had made a name for himself at a young age. For more than ten years, he had ruled over the courts and prisons with cruel, ruthless decisiveness. He was a living King of Hell, feared even by court officials, and notorious for bringing death to his wives. The servants waited to see how this frail concubine-born daughter would be humiliated and tormented. Instead, their new madam never once broke down in tears. They saw their master, who had always been cold and unfeeling, quietly add a warm lamp when she read medical books at night, discreetly shield her from every slight when the marquis household made things difficult for her, and scour the city through smoke and dust to bring her back when she wandered into danger.
She had thought she was stepping into an abyss, yet unexpectedly found the one place she could call home for the rest of her life. The softness and tenderness hidden beneath his cold exterior were reserved for her alone. With the court rife with intrigue and old cases entangled with lingering grievances, she held the long-healed scars in his palm while he guarded the starlight still shining in her eyes. From a marriage contract signed with private misgivings to standing side by side, entrusting their lives to each other, they learned that the most moving love begins with an unguarded moment of affection, then takes root in the everyday warmth of life together.
Theme: Supporting each other through thick and thin.
