Chu Weijun had lived in a temple under an assumed name for years. Once the realm was at peace and the new emperor took the throne, she immediately headed to the capital to compete in the selection for Imperial Preceptor.
On the day of the competition, she looked at the dignified man in purple robes and a gold crown beside the young emperor, and her expression changed.
The Daoist beside her gleefully remarked, "Grand Tutor Wei hates monks more than anything. Years ago, when he was hunted by rebels, he sought refuge in an old temple, only for the monks there to turn him away, blind to who he was!"
Chu Weijun, the monk who'd been blind to who he was: ...Don't ask. I deeply regret it.
As it happened, the man recognized her too. His long, phoenix-like eyes narrowed as he gave her a faintly mocking smile. "Immortal Chu, we meet again..."
From then on, Chu Weijun became the Imperial Preceptor of Dazhao, helping the man overthrow the court and murder loyal officials. Before long, she became a hated demon monk.
Men of letters denounced the pair as conspirators, incarnations of drought demons and yakshas, a match made in heaven as a pair of villains!
At first, the treacherous minister and demon monk worked together in perfect harmony, living peacefully side by side.
But an accident suddenly threw their partnership into disarray.
At the Qionglin Banquet, Chu Weijun and Wei Yanfu were afflicted by the Seven Delights Gu. When the poison took effect, flames seemed to consume their bodies, driving them to the brink of madness. Entangled together, they stumbled into a side hall. Buddhist beads scattered and her monk's robes came undone. With their secret about to be exposed, she held his hand down and gritted her teeth as she set three conditions:
First, blindfold yourself.
Second, bind your hands.
Third, I'll be on top... and guide you through it.
That night, the brocade curtains hung low, sealing them off from the world. The clatter of iron chains rang until dawn, like a wild beast trapped with no hope of escape.
As the name suggests, the Seven Delights Gu requires seven acts to dispel its effects.
Chu Weijun: I'm doomed... What am I going to do for the remaining six times?
The male lead's perspective:
Wei Yanfu is a warlord of a chaotic age, Grand Tutor Wei who holds the emperor hostage to command the lords, and the feared Eunuch of Nine Thousand Years at court. He is consumed by power, cold-hearted and aloof.
They say monks don't lie, covet gold and silver, or concern themselves with worldly affairs. Yet the little Imperial Preceptor he appointed is silver-tongued, greedy, and has a taste for men!
No matter. He only needs to use that jade-faced Imperial Preceptor's glib little mouth to eliminate his enemies and claim the throne.
But in the end, the little Imperial Preceptor deceived him in love, in heart, and in body, then ran away with an even younger and more handsome emperor!!!
When they meet again, Wei Yanfu can hardly recognize the face that visits him in his dreams every night. As his long fingers stroke her carefully grown hair, an obsessive, sickly glint spreads through his gleaming eyes. "How can the Imperial Preceptor, a female Bodhisattva, save people only halfway..."
Theme: As long as you persevere, despair can turn into hope
