[Cold outside, passionate within, beautiful and tragic x straightforward, sly, and spirited] 100,000 words already written. I'll build up some follows before starting!
Blurb:
When Chi Yingxue pledged allegiance to the young lord, she asked for neither fame nor fortune. All she wanted was to regain her freedom once their enemy had been defeated.
Before their revenge was half complete, however, she received an imperial decree of marriage. Her husband was none other than the young lord, her longtime co-conspirator.
On their wedding night, Chi Yingxue received no explanation. Instead, she was made drunk.
After a night of passion, the deed was done. As Chi Yingxue gradually sobered up, she couldn't help grabbing her husband's lapels and asking, "Care to explain this marriage decree? Weren't you supposed to give me my freedom?"
But the usually composed and aloof man simply leaned down and kissed her again.
The young lord, Mu Yunxuan, had spent years in power without being swayed by praise or humiliation, taking gains and losses lightly. Only A-Xue, kind and lively, made his desire to possess her grow beyond restraint.
By chance, Mu Yunxuan found Chi Yingxue's most treasured purse and was astonished to find the hand cord he'd given her inside.
After much inner turmoil, he returned it as if nothing had happened. Chi Yingxue, however, shamelessly accused him of stealing it and demanded compensation: endless riches and honor.
"Wasn't it you who clung to me and asked for it?"
On their wedding night, after she grabbed his lapels and demanded an explanation, Mu Yunxuan answered innocently.
As for freedom, if his wife wanted it... then all he had to do was conquer the realm as soon as possible.
--
● Reader's guide: The leads are mutually in love. This is neither marriage first, love later, nor a forced-love story. The male lead is slow to warm up, and the romance and plot are evenly balanced. In this story, no man takes a concubine. Place names, magic, and medicinal ingredients are all made up, so please don't overanalyze them. There are some personal world-building details and an ensemble cast.
● Blurb written in September 2025, revised January 22, 2026, revised again on April 2, revised a third time on May 6, and a fourth time on October 1. Screen recordings have been saved as proof.
● The full text has been revised several times. Versions 1-8 were handwritten, versions 9-14 were digital drafts, and every discarded draft has been kept. This is version 15, with the full manuscript completed. The completion time of every chapter has been documented.
[Excerpt]
In the Silver Sky Realm, new snow blanketed the ground and all was silent. A butterfly drifted along a winding path, its white wings almost the same color as the snowy landscape.
Chi Yingxue followed close behind, carrying a wooden box in her arms as she trudged through the snow, sometimes sinking in deep, sometimes in shallow.
It was her first assignment: to deliver the wooden box to the prison.
The maids all thought the prison was an ill-omened place and refused to go, so the head steward dumped the job on her, the newcomer, and impatiently sent a butterfly to guide her.
It was a wayfinding butterfly kept alive by magic. It was full of energy, and in the blink of an eye it had flapped out of sight. Chi Yingxue had no time to hesitate and hurried after it.
She chased it all the way, gasping for breath, and couldn't help muttering, "It's freezing out, but this little thing sure has plenty of energy..."
Before she could finish, she stepped on a slick patch of ice and landed hard on her backside.
In the chaos, she still remembered to hold the wooden box high above her head.
"Ow..."
Chi Yingxue clumsily got to her feet and brushed the snow off herself.
As she stood up, the wayfinding butterfly happily flew ahead. Before long, its outline was too faint to make out with the naked eye.
"Wait!"
Seeing the butterfly about to disappear into the snowy landscape, Chi Yingxue called out without thinking.
Unfortunately, butterflies don't understand people or their words. In the blink of an eye, it had vanished without a trace.
"..."
Chi Yingxue stood motionless in the vast, desolate landscape, like a stone statue.
--
● A few personal world-building details. They will be explained in the story, and you can choose whether to read them.
Monarch: Realm Lord. The Realm Lord's wife: Holy Lady.
Heir: Young Lord. The heir's wife: Young Lady.
The Five Pavilions: Longevity Pavilion, medicine; True Knowledge Pavilion, museum; Shadowless Pavilion, military camp; Heavenly Treasury Pavilion, finances and law; Divine Mechanism Pavilion, divination and astrology, under the Young Lord's jurisdiction.
The land is divided into the North Sea, South Ridge, West River, East Shore, and Central Province.
Theme: Standing side by side and weathering every storm together
