*
Qi Pingle admitted that in her past life, she had done something truly unfair: she treated He Wenqing, the Junior Minister of the Court of Judicial Review, as a stand-in for her deceased childhood sweetheart, and let everyone believe she was madly in love with him, including He Wenqing himself.
As a result, this once-celebrated top scholar had only just begun to make a name for himself at court when the new emperor turned against him because of her. He fell ill and died on the road to his exile in Liangzhou.
Reborn, Qi Pingle resolved to mend her ways. She decided that she and He Wenqing would keep out of each other's lives and go their separate ways.
*
Having lived two lifetimes, He Wenqing believed that the young princess of Prince Jin's mansion truly loved him. After all, she had risked her life to save him.
Then, at the palace banquet, the young princess stood shoulder to shoulder with a young man, smiling and chatting happily. And that young man... looked seven parts like him.
He overheard people at the next table say that the two were childhood sweethearts, a perfect match.
He smiled, too, as the cup shattered in his sleeve.
*
The palace banquet was dull, so Qi Pingle planned to slip away and get some air.
One misstep, and the usually aloof and dignified Junior Minister of the Court of Judicial Review pinned her against a rockery, holding her fast in his arms as he whispered by her ear: "Since you've already led me on, Your Highness, how dare you... leave things unfinished?"
*
Theme: May you grow to be steadfast as a pine.
