Shen Mingshu was born into a distinguished family. Cool-headed and clever, she was hailed as the most talented young woman in the capital and was the Shen family's trump card, bearing all their hopes.
Under secret orders, she set out to find the young prince in the jianghu. But she was attacked and left for dead, only to be rescued by a young man.
He was a man of the jianghu, and he made it clear he expected no repayment. Yet Shen Mingshu noticed him following her every day, clearly after something.
She devised a plan to make him show himself. Facing the handsome young man, his lips red and teeth white, his ears flushed crimson, she said, "Do you want money or power? I can give you either." The one thing she couldn't offer was her hand in marriage.
The young man gripped the hilt of his sword. His sleek black hair was tied in a high ponytail that fell behind him, and he gazed at her with earnest, clear eyes. "I want neither power nor wealth. I only ask that you grant me one thing, miss."
"What?" Shen Mingshu only wanted to repay him for saving her life and get on with her secret mission.
"An invitation to the Martial Arts Assembly."
Shen Mingshu was a little troubled. She had never been involved in jianghu affairs, but she agreed all the same.
At first, Shen Mingshu only wanted to repay him for saving her life, accompany him on a journey through the jianghu, and help him get an invitation to the Martial Arts Assembly. She thought it would be simple. Who knew the jianghu could be every bit as dangerous as the imperial court?
She looked at the innocent, fearless young man up ahead, then turned around and helped him out of another tight spot.
Together, they drank from mountain streams and slept beneath the open sky in the wilderness. They saw fireflies flickering all over the mountains and tasted the hardships of life. At their most desperate, he cut himself and offered his blood, praying she would survive.
When they parted, she looked back on their brief three months together and finally understood what he meant by the jianghu, and what he had been pursuing.
But in the end, they still had to say goodbye.
Bonus Scene
Word spread that an unbeatable duo had appeared in the jianghu. The man was a peerless fighter, victorious in every battle. The woman was brilliant, able to remember every move after seeing it once.
Yet overnight, they vanished from the jianghu, and no one ever saw them again.
After returning to the capital, Shen Mingshu followed her family's arrangements and attended a banquet at the palace.
She knew this was no ordinary banquet. The Crown Prince would choose her as his Crown Princess here.
When a golden hairpin was presented to Shen Mingshu, she looked up at the young prince before her, whose smile was bright and full of youthful confidence.
He smiled warmly and said, "I ask for neither power nor wealth. There is one thing I would like from you, Commandery Princess."
"What?"
"The place of your husband."
A cool-headed beauty, clever and calculating vs. a carefree, spirited young man with a heart of gold
The female lead has eight hundred tricks up her sleeve. The male lead has negative eight hundred. All he has is his sincerity.
P.S. The jianghu is a broad concept, and isn't all about fighting. The story is mainly about what the leads encounter along the way, and how they come to understand each other's feelings.
I've gone and written another super-niche story just for myself. I'll start it once it has enough follows.
Theme: The boy returns, still sincere as ever
