Nan Ci was the ugliest princess in the Qi Kingdom.
Her sisters and her consort mother were all breathtaking beauties, but she alone was hideously ugly.
Sigh.
So when she came of age, no one asked for her hand in marriage.
It was only when Qi was defeated and had to send a hostage to the enemy kingdom that she was tossed into its imperial palace like a hot potato.
Everyone waited for her to fend for herself and die.
But Nan Ci...
She took to life as a carefree couch potato with perfect peace of mind _(:з"∠)_
On holidays, people missed their families even more. Every now and then, Nan Ci wrote to her father, the emperor, and her consort mother, far away in her homeland.
She told them not to worry, just to send her some more money when they had a chance.
*
Then, at the New Year's Eve palace banquet, the crown prince was drugged with an aphrodisiac.
The enemy kingdom's beautiful crown prince, his white robes loose and his dark hair spilling down, fixed his gaze on Nan Ci, who was kneeling by a couch and fiddling with an incense burner not far away.
Nan Ci: "..."
That's not how this works! Go find whoever poisoned you.
The candlelight flickered, and so did the moonlight.
Driven into a corner, Nan Ci clutched her skirt and retreated to the edge of the bed. Remembering her own looks, she sweated with panic and suggested, "M-maybe you should take another look at someone else."
"It doesn't matter."
Xie Zhuo touched her lips, reddened by the cold, bringing with him the crisp scent of plum blossoms. "I think your ugliness is quite distinctive."
Nan Ci: "..."
Could you please talk like a normal person?
Or you'll lose your wife.
*
Nan Ci had always thought Xie Zhuo was a cool, proper gentleman.
He was handsome and skilled in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. Aside from being unsuited to be crown prince, he had a bright future in anything he did.
He was too gentle.
Too kind.
Too uncalculating.
Too bad at political scheming.
In this vast imperial palace, everyone was as black-hearted as night.
He alone was a pure lotus blooming in a Buddhist shrine, unstained by the mud.
Then she waited and waited, but Xie Zhuo was never deposed.
Instead, she heard that his younger brother, who had schemed against the crown prince at every turn, had failed in his coup.
Nan Ci: "?"
She couldn't put it into words, but something seemed off.
Theme: Treat love with sincerity
