In the sixth year of the young emperor's reign, he wrote in his journal:
To spare me the burden, the Empress Dowager has ruled from behind the curtain for six years, yet remains diligent and tireless.
My Imperial Uncle commands an army of four hundred thousand and personally guards me and the capital of Great Qin.
My aunt is compassionate and cares for the people, especially the talented scholars of the Imperial Academy and the newly appointed court officials.
A harmonious family brings prosperity to all. Wonderful, wonderful.
When Ji Shang was thirteen, her elder brother, the emperor, died, leaving her with a powerless Empress Dowager and child emperor, as well as a fief of considerable influence.
Though still young, she was already the senior princess of the imperial clan.
At sixteen, amid the crowds pouring into the capital to sit the examinations, Ji Shang rescued a poor candidate who had fainted from hunger while selling calligraphy in the street.
It was said that the candidate, Xie Huaiyu, was as handsome as Pan An, noble as an orchid and a jade tree, and an upright gentleman who kept himself pure. Yet the outrageous Grand Princess abducted him to her residence and made him her bedfellow.
When the rumors spread, Ji Shang asked Xie Huaiyu, "They say I used my kindness to force your gratitude, abused my power, and ruined your good name?"
Xie Huaiyu smiled and bowed. "This subject did so of his own free will."
Xie Huaiyu stayed at the princess's residence for three whole years after she rescued him.
Ji Shang liked tea, so Xie Huaiyu learned to brew it for her, rising at dawn to gather snow and spending hours preparing a single pot.
Ji Shang liked gentle gentlemen. Each time they were intimate, Xie Huaiyu learned to be attentive in every way, then stayed in her bedchamber to hold and kiss her, leaving only at daybreak.
As time passed, even the people in the princess's residence believed that he gave her everything she wanted because he had truly fallen for her.
When Ji Shang sent him away, his eyes reddened in front of her. But once he had stepped outside, he simply laughed it off.
Xie Huaiyu was born poor and had clawed his way up from the lowest rungs. He prided himself on being skilled at concealing his true nature behind a respectable facade, and had long since become willing to do anything to succeed. What he and Ji Shang shared was no more than a fleeting affair, each getting what they wanted before going their separate ways. When they parted, he told himself he felt not the slightest attachment.
Later, after Ji Shang had weathered many ups and downs at court and fallen on hard times, colleagues still heard that Xie Huaiyu, now a powerful first-rank official, spent the night in Ji Shang's bedchamber and left at dawn after straightening his robes.
The cleverest and coldest man in the world spent his life as her bedfellow.
*A clever man who pretends to be devoted, only to lose both his body and his heart x a Grand Princess who is simply captivated by good looks
*Matched opponents
*The heroine is lively, considerate, clear-eyed, and perceptive. The hero falls first.
*Court politics
*Archived on July 11, 2021
Theme: The best romances are between well-matched opponents.
