He is the carefree, rakish son of a powerful southern family. She is a gentle, virtuous young lady from a distinguished family of scholars.
A political game between the north and the south brings her before him, and from then on, there is room in his world for no one but her.
He pesters her relentlessly, vowing to marry her with a grand bridal procession stretching ten miles.
She, however, is sick of him and declares that she will never marry a spoiled young master.
He goes to study in America, then rises to power as a military commander, only to discover that she has been deceiving him.
He takes her by force, and she hates him to the bone.
Thus, their tangled grievances unfold amid the flames of a war-torn age.
Great houses invite the envious gaze of ghosts. The struggle for power is a storm of shifting clouds. In these turbulent times, how can he protect the country and the family he shares with her?
Deep love cannot last forever; power pushed to its extreme invites humiliation. His heart burns bright with devotion, all because of her. Amid the chaos of the age, will she let go of her resentment and stand arm in arm with him across their lands?
Rain beats on the plantain leaves, wind stirs the parasol trees. Joy and sorrow, partings and reunions, all are beyond our control. When the song ends, they sit facing a lonely lamp. All that remains is to let the autumn rain drip from the eaves until dawn.
Very well written, like Zhang Xueliang and Zhang Zuolin