Princess Nanping Shen Xuan was born into the imperial family, but the emperor was not her real father. Her mother died young, leaving her alone and without anyone to rely on. To marry and leave the palace as soon as possible, she sought out her imperial brother, Shen Zhuo.
Fortunately, her brother pitied her loneliness and agreed to find her a husband. Within days, he had portraits of young men from prominent families delivered to her so she could choose.
After careful consideration, Shen Xuan found a suitable prince consort. She met him privately several times, they got along wonderfully, and they promised themselves to each other.
But during the Mid-Autumn Palace Banquet, someone drugged Shen Xuan, and she wandered by mistake into her brother's bedroom.
After one night together, the drug wore off. Shen Xuan slipped away and did everything she could to hide what had happened, hoping only to marry her fiancé in peace.
She thought that after taking such pains to cover it up, nothing could go wrong. But on the eve of her wedding, her fiancé was arrested for a crime, and Princess Nanping herself vanished without a trace.
Crown Prince Shen Zhuo was renowned among the ministers for his noble bearing, bright and unblemished character, and exceptional grace.
He was aloof by nature and always disciplined and restrained. But he had been poisoned by a strange toxin that flared up every full moon, bringing excruciating headaches and robbing him of his reason.
Thanks to his extraordinary endurance, he had always weathered each outbreak alone.
That was until the day his imperial sister Shen Xuan came to him, speaking timidly as she asked him to find her a husband so she could leave the palace as soon as possible.
He rarely involved himself in the affairs of the inner palace and seldom saw this younger sister. Only after hearing her story did he learn how difficult it had been for her to live alone all these years, so he agreed to help.
From then on, he pitied his sister for losing her mother as a child and being left all alone. Whenever she found herself in danger, he came to her rescue.
When someone pushed his sister into the water, he personally carried her to a side hall to change. As his arm circled her slender waist, he realized how graceful her figure was, her curves perfectly proportioned.
When he taught his sister to draw a bow and shoot arrows, he held her wrist and discovered how delicate it was, her skin as smooth as ice and her bones as lovely as jade.
He couldn't say when it began, but improper, dark thoughts started to take root and grow wildly. The old poison in his body grew more severe along with them.
At the Mid-Autumn Palace Banquet, the poison flared up, and he left early to rest in the Eastern Palace.
He disliked the noise and sent away the palace servants on duty, remaining alone in his bedroom. As the strange poison consumed his reason, his usually gentle and obedient sister stumbled into the room.
He thought it was all just a dream, but his sister's split lips and the red marks on her snow-white neck revealed the truth.
Crown Prince Shen Zhuo personally took charge of Princess Nanping's wedding arrangements. But on the eve of the wedding, the princess disappeared, and rumors swept through the entire capital.
In the Crown Prince's residence, Shen Xuan woke from her faint. Her usually cold and dignified imperial brother held her slender wrist. "The person that night was you, wasn't it, little sister?"
1. Fictional setting, one-on-one romance, both leads' first time.
2. The male and female leads are not related by blood.
Theme: Treat each other with sincerity
