An Old Acquaintance in the Capital

What should I do when my childhood sweetheart becomes my stepfather, but I still can't stop thinking about him?

In Great Xia, where women hold sway, Xiao Zheng was the daughter of the Prince of Yan. She entered the palace as a companion to the royal children when she was young, and grew into a dignified, composed young woman. By rights, she should have inherited her mother's military command and lived a life free of worry.

But disaster struck, and she could only watch helplessly as an old friend was reduced to a criminal's status.

The young Shen Jue was the son of the Minister of Personnel. Gentle and clever, he had been very close to her back then.

But seven years ago, the Shen family was convicted over a military provisions transport case, and the entire clan was destroyed.

He and Xiao Zheng parted ways for seven years.

Later, she became an official at the Court of Judicial Review, determined to do everything she could to free him. But as she investigated, she began to realize something was wrong.

The once carefree and easygoing Shen Jue had been buried in the family’s destruction seven years ago.

The Prince of Yan’s secondary husband, now unfailingly mild-mannered and respectful toward everyone, was merely her nominal stepfather, not the openhearted boy who had once urged her to study hard beneath a sky of distant mountains in a midday dream.

Now that she was old enough to marry, her mother had chosen a number of outstanding prospective husbands for her. But after much thought, she could not avoid turning her gaze toward the secondary husband her mother had brought back to the residence, the man she had parted from seven years ago.

Theme: How does someone go on living after losing everything?