Please add Mo Jue to your reading list!
Powerful minister vs. young palace maid, one-on-one, both leads' first relationship, happy ending
The male lead, Yuwen Jue, appears ruthless and cruel, skilled at manipulation, but is actually steady and doting.
The female lead, Xu Ximo: lively and sweet, with an innocent heart.
Main couple: Yuwen Jue and Xu Ximo
Side couple: Wu Zhen and Chu Anzhi
Note: The romance and intimate interactions only begin after she turns fifteen.
Xu Ximo's perspective
General Yuwen Jue wields power over the court and is as arrogant and overbearing as the blazing sun.
Xu Ximo is a young palace maid who once served the late emperor.
On the day Yuwen Jue launched his coup, he threatened her with a knife, saying he'd gut the little fat fish and bleed her dry.
She played dead and pretended to be foolish, but neither threats nor kindness worked on him. So she resorted to her trump card, shamelessly reminiscing about "the old days": "Do you remember the adorable five-year-old who danced for you by the Fishweed Pond one summer?"
Yuwen Jue's mouth twitched. He replied coldly, "I don't."
Later, she was inexplicably drawn into the palace's infighting, and Yuwen Jue, who had threatened to kill her, saved her again and again.
With the palace full of danger and intrigue, she'd rather be kept outside the palace by Yuwen Jue than ever return.
She rises step by step from a young palace maid to his mistress, concubine, and legal wife, eventually becoming the most honored noblewoman in Great Wu.
She thinks of herself as "experienced and quick-witted," but she can never figure out who the little prince is, the one who looks so much like Yuwen Jue?
Yuwen Jue's perspective
Yuwen Jue thought Xu Ximo was a sweet, obedient little darling. Only after he'd won her over did he discover she was a little troublemaker.
She throws her weight around every day, "battling wits" with him by day, then crawling up beside his ear at night to whisper sweet nothings. At least three times a month, she "falls ill," and each time she makes sure someone tells him it's all because he made her angry.
When the little troublemaker gets mad, she "goes on a hunger strike," so he has to feed her himself. Even then, she refuses to eat until he begs her, and only then will she deign to take a bite.
But she is the one who eased the old troubles in his heart, quelled rebellions with him, brought order to the realm, and ushered in the flourishing Zhenyuan era.
Reading guide:
There is both devotion to the nation and family, and the everyday ups and downs of home life.
The leads are both fantastic, and they actually communicate. No unpleasant surprises!
The male lead is eight years older than the female lead. A slight age-gap growing-up romance.
The female lead has another identity.
Theme: Only mutual trust and support between the leads can make their relationship last
