Synopsis
#A Female General and Her Delicate, Helpless Husband#
[Blurb] Whose young lady is this, swishing her skirts, carrying a flower between her lips as she climbs the wall to tease her beloved?
Ai Qinghe first met the young master of the Ling family on the day she returned victorious from battle, welcomed home by crowds lining the streets.
She had practiced martial arts from the age of five and learned to ride and draw a bow at ten. She wielded a white-shafted spear with consummate skill.
At the height of her youth, the emperor personally appointed her a female general, a rare talent in Shengguo's hundred-year history.
Look: Banners flutter, red armor gleams. She grips the reins and spurs her horse, her sharp sword cutting through the dust.
The streets are packed with people cheering her name. Who says women cannot be heroes?
Ai Qinghe rode leisurely down the street, meeting countless admiring gazes, full of pride and ambition.
Yet before even an incense stick had burned down, the crowd dispersed.
Men and women, young and old, all passed right by her impressive bearing, just to catch a glimpse of Ling Yuan, the young master of the Ling family, renowned as Chang'an's most beautiful man.
It was the first time in her life she had been snubbed. General Ai looked at the wide-open space before her and felt her reputation crumble.
Pointing at the two locks of hair on Ling Yuan's forehead, she pursed her lips in disdain and mocked him. "Who are you putting on that courtesan's act for?"
But who could predict the turns of fate? In less than half a month, General Ai was so smitten with the very "courtesan's act" she'd mocked that she was completely beside herself.
That night, she climbed over the green-tiled walls under cover of darkness, rubbing her hands together as she rushed at the beauty.
But the beauty held fast to the boundaries between men and women, bashfully refusing her.
Such boneless softness and half-hearted resistance meant nothing to her.
With a sharp smacking sound, the ambushed young master Ling flushed with embarrassment and hurriedly turned his face away. "N-no, we mustn't overstep propriety!"
Ai Qinghe gave a wicked smile and whispered in his ear, "Qingqing, let me steal one more kiss. Whatever clothes and hair ornaments you want, I'll get them all for you."
With that, she pulled off his blue hair ribbon and tied his troublesome hands above his head.
Unable to do anything, young master Ling had nowhere to hide. His face was so red it looked ready to drip blood.
After a long while, all he managed to gasp was, "Ras...cal."
The young master of the Ling family had been frail and sickly since birth. Aside from his looks, he had no other talents.
He believed that compared with Ai Qinghe, he, Ling Yuan, was utterly ordinary and insignificant.
But she came to him through wind and rain, and with her rare, precious love, she made him shine.
Even though he could neither lift things nor bear a burden, she never minded. She still treasured him as if he were priceless.
Touching the teacup-shaped mark on his forehead, she declared, "So what? My husband can steady the realm with a pen and clobber a rascal with a cup. He's no worse than any man."
Ling Yuan smiled, laughing so freely that his eyes grew misty and tears dampened his lapels.
The moon in his heart, the flower in the mirror that he had never dared to dream of, had actually taken him into her arms.
He had never told her that long ago, he had secretly kept the name "Ai Qinghe" in his heart.
Every smile and frown of hers could stir all his emotions.
He rejoiced when she was happy and grieved when she cried.
His feelings for her had long been anything but innocent.
The one I love,
can look lovely in skirts, painting her brows and dressing up,
and can also ride across the battlefield, commanding troops with bold determination.
Do you know that women in this world are never inferior to men?
Bent over from her horse, she gave him a passionate kiss.
From then on, beneath the rising sun and the rosy glow of the western hills, they stood together every morning and held each other close every evening.
Watch them wield their spears, move like dragons and serpents, and embrace the moon as it shines over the land.
[Reading Guide]
One-on-one happy ending. The setting is entirely fictional.
There are matters of the realm and hearts full of valor, not just romance.
[Blurb published May 8, 2023]
Theme: Never say women are not heroes; their swords sing on the wall each night
