A Southland girl who's not very good at casting love spells x a flawless gentleman bound by the rules of an aristocratic clan
Not every Southlander is skilled at casting love spells.
Chuncao certainly wasn't. She not only chose the wrong person, but cast the wrong spell, too.
Rain pattered through the night. Chuncao and the man she'd picked up were trapped in a cold, damp cave.
The wet firewood sent up choking smoke. As she helped the injured man out of his clothes, she coughed until her eyes were watery. She hadn't understood what he said, and asked in confusion, "Men and women shouldn't be intimate? I didn't kiss you."
She was barely literate.
The upright gentleman, now stranded in the wilderness with his clothes stained, had eyes reddened by the smoke.
The Song clan of Fengling was a century-old family of distinction, and almost every clan member was accomplished in literature. The eldest grandson, Song Yun, was handsome and refined, warm as the sun and steady as a mountain. He was a young gentleman of extraordinary promise, famous throughout the land.
But when Song Yun returned to the capital after solving a baffling case in a border city, a suspicious vermilion mark had appeared between his brows.
"Young master, this isn't an illness. It's a love spell."
The old physician wiped away his sweat. "It's the Southlanders' Red Sand Spell. One sting leaves a vermilion mark, and the only way to break it is to be intimate with the spellcaster."
"Thus, the spell's wondrous purpose is to preserve chastity."
The attendant beside him drew in a sharp breath. Song Yun said nothing. As rain and dew mingled outside the eaves, he thought again of that night in the mountains:
The silver ornaments in her hair and on her earlobes jingled softly. She ignored his struggles and pulled open his robe, then suddenly stopped.
"I don't think I'm very good at this. Wait for me to go down the mountain tomorrow morning and ask someone."
Her cheeks were pink, and her silver ornaments swayed like stars.
Of course, Song Yun didn't wait for her.
But later, he taught her to write and read, to play the qin and brew tea, and all about romance. It was nothing more than a foolish hope that this barely literate girl might understand his heart.
But she didn't like him.
How could she not like him?
Then let her not like him.
"She flouted convention. She was far from perfect. And yet he still wanted to keep her by his side, even if it meant going from a flawless gem of an aristocrat to a disgrace to his clan."
In short, it's the story of a seemingly flawless gentleman whose inner self gradually crumbles because of his girl, turning him into a dark little "pervert."
Theme: Break free from the constraints of propriety and pursue a life of freedom.
