Embracing the Moon (Mystery)

[Cheerful, secretly unmasked artist x scheming, tea-sipping, poker-faced prefect, a story about a scatterbrain and a sourpuss solving cases together.]

The first time Li Jiayue met Pei Du, she was a little girl accompanying her father to a Luming Banquet. Even at that young age, she was already skilled at buttering people up. When she spotted the top candidate who had also slipped out for some fresh air, she sang "Youyou Lu Ming" to him three times and eagerly invited him to feed the fish.

The top candidate was a round, chubby little boy with an adorable steamed-bun face. He said his name was Pei Du, and that he was the youngest son of the Pei family.

They met again at a private banquet hosted by the Pei family. The chubby boy of years ago had become the newly named top scholar, brilliant and peerless in bearing. Eighteen-year-old Li Jiayue struggled to close her mouth, which had fallen open in astonishment at his looks, and pointed at the yellowed, tattered paper in his hand as she tried to reason with him.

"Throw that piece of junk away. Your family doesn't even recognize it."

Pei Du shook his head. His long, pale fingers pinched the creased marriage contract, which looked ready to fall apart, and gave it another shake.

"First, this isn't junk. Second, whether anyone else recognizes it or not, I do."

Everyone said that the marriage between the Pei and Li families was a match above Li Jiayue's station. For one thing, the Li family were merchants who needed to attach themselves to a powerful family like the Peis. For another, Li Jiayue's father was the least successful of the Li brothers.

So Li Jiayue, who had gotten such a good deal, was especially well-behaved. She dutifully kept to the proper conduct of a fiancée. If Pei Du told her to go east, she wouldn't even chase a chicken west.

Until one day, a disappearance case broke out in Qizhou City. The newly appointed prefect, Pei Du, traced the case to his own fiancée. He came to her door with a cold face and exposed her secrets without so much as a change in expression. "Li Jiayue, eighteen years old. Two years ago, you used the alias Young Master Xu to secretly work with a bookshop, illustrating over a hundred forbidden books."

Li Jiayue sucked in a breath. "My fiancé, let me explain!"

Pei caught the corner of his mouth in a smile. "Lady Li, you're only remembering to pull rank now? I'm afraid it's a little late."

The first time Pei Du saw his fiancée was ten years ago. She was a silly little girl, and he couldn't get her out of his mind. Ten years later, he brought the marriage contract to fulfill their betrothal, only to find that she didn't care in the least and was fobbing him off with sweet words and empty promises.

Of course, if she would just kiss him, he could forgive her right away.

Reader's Guide:

1. A sweet romance. Every plot point serves the love story.

2. The male lead's secret crush comes true; seven-year age gap; both leads are virgins; happy ending.

3. Fictional setting. Please don't try to verify the history.

Theme: Face hardship with a smile and find yourself.