A seductive, scheming beauty × an aloof emperor
Ling Zhao, the adopted daughter of the King of Monan, was breathtakingly beautiful, with a face said to bring kingdoms to their knees.
To ease her country's troubles, she offered her supple body to win the favor of Mu Han, the emperor of Daxing.
On the night they first met, she hooked a finger into the man's belt, her alluring eyes soft as silk as she carefully tried to please him.
As the bed curtains fell, Mu Han knew the King of Monan had ulterior motives. He coldly warned her, "If you meddle in court affairs, I'll take your life."
Ling Zhao didn't mind and always stayed within the bounds of her role.
She could be virtuous and gentle, or warm and sincere. In Daxing's imperial harem, she was the most dazzling flower who knew how to soothe the heart.
No one knew that beneath her coquettish exterior, she kept a heart as cold as stone.
·
Mu Han, emperor of Daxing, was as elegant as a jade tree and peerlessly handsome, but he was aloof and passionless, untouched by worldly concerns, with his heart set only on state affairs.
Everyone lamented that among the countless beauties in the world, not one woman had caught his eye.
Until a great fire took the life of a beauty who had never been favored. The emperor spent the night alone in the cold palace, and woke with white hair.
Heartbroken and coughing up blood, he suspended court for three days, buried the beauty with the honors due an empress, and had a Buddhist hall built in the palace, where lamps burned through the night as prayers were chanted for her.
Only then did people realize that even an iron tree could bloom, and that an iceberg could melt when spring brought warmth.
Yet months later, a spy brought back a portrait of the King of Monan's favored concubine.
The long-dejected emperor suddenly smiled, his expression unreadable.
·
The scent of incense drifted through the air as silver armor was stained with blood.
That day, fine rain fell in silver threads, entwining earth and sky.
Mu Han led his army in person, conquered the King of Monan's camp, and lifted the beauty's chin with the tip of his blade.
The man's brows and lashes were still like pine beneath snow, but his eyes were stained with a darkness that seemed ready to swallow her whole.
"Be good and come back to the palace with me. The empire cannot go a day without an empress."
With nowhere left to hide, Ling Zhao resigned herself and looked up. At last, her good days were over.
[Note: Angsty pursuit of a wife, marriage before love, an aloof and untouchable man brought down from his pedestal. Weibo post saved on 20220524.]
Theme: Love should be pursued bravely
