A coup turned the Sixth Princess into a complete laughingstock.
The people mocked her: "The emperor's darling just had to steal another woman's husband. Now her consort has joined forces with the Second Prince to rebel. Her parents have been slaughtered, her younger brother imprisoned. Serves her right."
Wei Ruo'an tightened her grip on the dagger, ready to follow her parents in death, when the sound of war drums came from outside the city.
Li Qing, the King of the Northwest, was her mother's distant cousin, a man she called Ninth Uncle. Leading an army of thousands, he arrived at the city gates and drew his great bow, aiming it at the princess's consort. "You want to usurp the throne? Did you ask me, Li Qing, first?"
*
When the fighting ended, the man lifted the delicate princess into his arms, his eyes cold. "You're a daughter of the Li family, yet you let yourself be deceived by a rat like that?"
The princess lowered her head. For her younger brother's sake, she had to endure.
Her younger brother was nowhere to be found, so she had no choice but to seek out Ninth Uncle.
The man lifted the hem of his robe, his meaning clear. "Beg me, and I'll help you."
*
Everyone said Li Qing, the Northwest War King, was ruthless and bloodthirsty, a heartless man who had always been at odds with the Empress Dowager's branch of the family. The princess had escaped the wolf's den only to fall into the tiger's lair.
But they didn't know that the man would cradle the princess's tiny foot and gently chide her. "Ruoruo, you're not wearing shoes again? Is the ground too cold and hard, so you insist on having me carry you?"
His stubble scratched her cheek, leaving a faint red mark.
Dark, dangerous emotion stirred in his eyes as his Adam's apple bobbed.
His voice was hoarse. "Ruoruo..."
*
A charming, delicate princess x a volatile, obsessive general. The heroine is a virgin, the hero isn't. They're very, very distant cousins. The heroine is very weak at the beginning!
Theme: Love is unbreakable
