The Hard-to-Escape Wife

Chu Xiangwan is a princess of royal blood, a beauty whose dancing enchants the capital. She is the bright moon everyone can only dream of reaching.

But when her country falls and the imperial city is overrun, she becomes a military prostitute in the enemy camp, forced to endure humiliation. Countless wolves come seeking her, eager to tear down her pride and devour her whole.

Just as her clothes are torn, Wei Xiao appears from the sky with his red-tasseled spear and saves her from danger.

And so, later on...

Even when former officials berate her for her shamelessness, and Wei Xiao's enemies leave her with a crippled leg, she is still content to stay by his side.

She does not dare hope to become part of the Wei family. All she asks is for a little peace and dignity in this chaotic world.

Until Wei Xiao discusses marriage. She overhears a conversation between him and his mother.

“Have you really fallen for Chu Xiangwan? You're still keeping her even though her leg is ruined?”

Wei Xiao leans back in his chair, chin raised slightly, phoenix eyes half-lidded, his thin lips cold. “Her leg may be ruined, but her face is still beautiful. My woman could turn into a ghost, and her soul would still bear the mark of ‘Xiao.’”

Only then does she realize that being with him will never bring the peace she longs for. All that awaits is an entanglement that will end only when one of them is dead.

Chu Xiangwan thinks: Five years by his side, repaying him for saving her life, and one crippled leg should be enough.

So she stages her death by falling off a cliff and makes her escape. All she leaves behind is an embroidered shoe on the mountainside. Wei Xiao sees it and vomits blood on the spot. Overnight, his black hair turns white, and from then on he searches for her like a madman.

Three years later, unrest breaks out at the northern frontier. Wei Xiao leads his troops to repel the enemy. As they pass the foot of Mount Wu, they happen upon the Prince of Huaiyin's wedding procession. The two carriages pass in opposite directions, and just as they miss each other, a gust of wind lifts the curtain, revealing a face as beautiful as the moon.

Everyone watches as the general leaps from his horse and chops down the other party's elaborate canopy.

The bride in the sedan chair has not raised her fan to cover her face. She stares at him in shock and panic. “Wei...”

Wei Xiao's gaze turns icy. He says each word slowly: “Wei what?”

He presses his sword to her neck, and it looks as though blood will spill at any moment.

But then a little baby suddenly pokes out from her red sleeve, wobbling and rubbing eyes exactly like his, looking confused and making soft little sounds as if asking to be held.

...Wei Xiao freezes on the spot.

[Blurb written on 2022.5.13, screenshot saved]

Theme: Treat others with sincerity