When someone is betrayed, there must always be someone doing the betraying.
Jiang Zeyi
Su Muzhe
Jiang Zeyi is the fifth princess of the Great Jin dynasty.
Seven years ago, her father and her eldest sister, the Crown Princess, were framed for treason by people close to them and died one after another. Only Jiang Zeyi survived the chaos, saved by her disabled legs and the months she spent bedridden.
Since then, Jiang Zeyi has been unable to sleep most nights. Desperate, familiar voices crying out and pleading their innocence ring in her ears, urging her to avenge them.
For years, Jiang Zeyi immersed herself in hatred, until she could no longer feel any warmth in the world.
Then, quite by chance, a beautiful and passionate young man, as radiant as the sun, burst into her life.
He should have been the light that pulled her out of the darkness, but she treated him as a sharp, unstoppable blade.
The young man is skilled with gu, and excels at bewitching people's hearts. And she, even without using a single gu worm, can manipulate him into killing for her, eliminating her rivals, covering her tracks, and even detoxifying her own body.
When the truth came to light, Jiang Zeyi unhesitatingly pushed the young man forward to take the blame for her.
The first time Su Muzhe came to the Central Plains, he fell in love at first sight with a stunningly beautiful woman of exceptional bearing.
The Miao people love boldly and hate boldly. When they like someone, they say so outright. But when Su Muzhe looked into her gentle eyes, he inexplicably lost his nerve.
He lied to her: "I've put a love gu in you. If you don't want to die, you'll have to be my wife."
The woman believed him, just as he had hoped, and took him home.
But he hadn't poisoned her. So why did she always look at him with such deep affection? Why did she hold him and coax him to sleep every night, buy him pretty silver jewelry and delicious pastries, and kiss his eyes tenderly?
Su Muzhe slowly realized that she liked him too.
They became a real married couple. So it was only right to do things for his wife. Even getting hurt a little was no big deal.
Until one day, he was seized by a group of people, thrown in prison, and tortured. Only then did he understand that it had all been a beautiful dream she'd woven to deceive him.
Later, the beautiful young man from Miaojiang lay in the depths of a dungeon, covered in blood and filth. When he saw her, the affection in his eyes was gone.
He struggled to raise his eyelids and look at her, then laughed bitterly for a long time.
"I won't ever love you again."
She laughed along with him, still doting on him as she had before, and reached to touch his broken ribs.
"Good boy. Don't come to the Central Plains again."
[Reader's Guide]
1. Matriarchal setting, men can bear children. Both leads are sexually inexperienced.
2. The male lead is highly skilled in martial arts and somewhat naive about the ways of the world.
He can be clingy and cry, but only around the female lead.
3. The latter half includes a reunion and children. If that's not your thing, please read with caution. (I've heard some readers don't like stories with children, so I wanted to mention it in advance.)
4. Little angels, please don't argue in the comments. Can't we respect everyone's preferences? *Tugs your sleeve and acts cute.*
5. Can't think of anything else for now. I'll add more later.
Theme: Prosperity, democracy, and civility