Feng Yu, the youngest daughter of the Zhenwei Marquis's household, was the envy of everyone in the capital. Not only was the young girl beautiful and charming, she also had three elder brothers with illustrious military records.
Feng Yu had never suffered the slightest grievance in her life. Even a princess had to give way to her.
Then one day, her eldest brother was imprisoned for deceiving the emperor, her second brother was exiled to the frontier for greed, and her third brother was sentenced to execution in the autumn for dereliction of duty. Feng Yu panicked.
She had no particular talents, just a pretty face. Faced with the choice between being bullied to death and climbing the social ladder, she steeled herself, blushing and trembling as she stopped the official carriage of the Prince of Dongling's heir.
*
Xie Chian, heir to the Prince of Dongling, was famed for a face as beautiful as jade and a heart as cruel as they came.
The girls who fell into his hands all met the same fate once he grew bored of them.
Feng Yu was terrified, always worrying that she'd chosen the wrong path and wouldn't survive ten or fifteen days. But to her surprise, aside from keeping her confined to a room, he never hurt her at all.
Could the heir really love me? Feng Yu wondered. Then she heard that he was engaged to the legitimate daughter of the Duke of Ningguo.
The Duke of Ningguo's legitimate daughter was fiery-tempered and wouldn't tolerate the slightest offense.
Terrified, Feng Yu packed her things in the middle of the night, intending to climb a different branch. But the moment she stepped out the front door, she was stopped.
Xie Chian sat atop a tall building, twirling a fan, looking as tranquil as water and moonlight.
"Where are you going?"
"The... the Crown Prince's residence."
"You've got a talent for seeing clearly, every time, who's really in charge of this imperial city."
Feng Yu's eyes welled up with tears. "The heir is the most powerful person in this imperial city, but aren't you about to get married?"
*
Feng Yu didn't know why Xie Chian had married her with ten miles of wedding gifts and an eight-person sedan chair, or why he'd given her the thing she wanted most: the exoneration of her family's unjust case.
Her heart pounded. From beneath the red bridal veil, she said to Xie Chian, "Xie Yan, I'm easy to fool. You have to mean it when you treat me well before you lift this veil, or else..."
"Or else what?"
Xie Chian looked at the nervous, lovely young woman beneath the bridal veil, knowing better than anyone that...
On the Shangyuan Festival of years past, snow fell over Shengjing.
The youngest daughter of the Zhenwei Marquis's household gave him a plum blossom amid everyone's mocking laughter, smiling sweetly.
"Or else you'll get angry. And whenever you get angry, Xie Yan panics."
* A clever, dark-hearted schemer pretending to be a foolish beauty x a ruthless heir to the throne
* Both have had no prior partners, one-on-one romance, and no angst for the heroine!
Excerpt finalized on 2022.04.14
Theme: With love, we journey through mountains and seas
