Zhen Yu was born with a beauty that seemed to transcend the ordinary, enough to captivate an entire city. Unfortunately, she had lowly status: she was merely a personal maid to Guo Nianfu, the only legitimate daughter of the Duke of Ning's household.
Zhen Yu had served Guo Nianfu since childhood, and Guo Nianfu was the only person in her eyes and heart. Timid and shy, she had a pair of limpid almond eyes that were always darting away, and she was not much of a talker. The other maids often ostracized and bullied her.
Guo Nianfu also disliked how Zhen Yu was more beautiful than her mistress, so she never took her along when she went out. She knew that a lovely fairy flower like Zhen Yu was destined to be buried in the ducal estate. The best she could hope for was to be given to one of the duke's sons as a concubine, which would earn Guo Nianfu a favor in return.
Now several of her cousins had declared their interest in Zhen Yu, and she was fretting over which one to give her to.
But only the guards at the Crown Prince's side knew that a beautiful fairy flower like Zhen Yu would not be buried in the ducal estate. She had long since become the apple of the Crown Prince's eye. Though swamped with government affairs, he climbed over the palace wall every night to meet this
