The old emperor of the Sheng dynasty was a notorious womanizer in his youth. From the consorts in the various palaces to the palace maids working in every department, he refused no one. He had his hands in every pie and lovers everywhere.
So when the old emperor was about to kick the bucket, Sheng Zhiyi's sixty-three older brothers and thirty-six older sisters immediately began fighting each other to the death.
As children, Sheng Zhiyi and Sheng Yue depended on each other in a small courtyard in the Cold Palace. At the time, Sheng Yue was dragging away a little eunuch she'd poisoned.
Sheng Zhiyi helped her dig a hole, crying all the while, when Sheng Yue casually asked,
"Hey, what's your card ability?"
Only then did Sheng Zhiyi realize! This world was freaking fantasy!
Sheng Zhiyi waited and waited, until one spring afternoon she finally awakened her own card ability.
When the young girl woke from her nap, a white card appeared out of nowhere in her hand.
"Night rain cuts spring chives; newly cooked rice hides golden millet." At the words, the card turned into a bunch of chive seedlings.
"..."
Optimists adapt to the world. Thanks to this useless ability, the sisters cut chives and sold them cheaply to the Imperial Kitchens, surviving in the Cold Palace.
2.
With ninety-nine princes fighting over the throne, Sheng Yue obviously wasn't about to put her life in someone else's hands.
The people visiting their little courtyard were no longer just a bunch of greedy, lecherous nobodies.
"There are more than a dozen tribes. Which one are you going to?" Taking advantage of the old emperor's serious illness, the northern Wusu tribe had requested a princess for a political marriage. Sheng Yue wanted to send Sheng Zhiyi away.
"Not an old one or an ugly one."
Sheng Yue somehow managed to make it happen. Sheng Zhiyi secretly went to see the other party at the banquet, and he was quite handsome.
Sheng Yue told her,
"I've worked things out with them. Once I've taken care of my business, you can divorce him, and I'll come get you."
"Okay, Eighth Sister." Sheng Zhiyi prepared enough chive pies to last a few days, showing that she understood and would wait obediently for Sheng Yue to come get her.
"Don't call me Eighth Sister!"
3.
When Sheng Zhiyi arrived in Wusu territory, she found the women and children there so hungry they were gaunt.
She wrote to Sheng Yue:
Eighth Sister, it's so poor here. First I need to work hard so I can eat a jianbing guozi (smiley face).
Not enough to eat?
"Sow one grain of millet in spring, reap ten thousand in autumn!"
Nothing to wear?
"Silver light foretells a bountiful year, ten thousand fields shimmer like melting snow!"
No medicine to use?
"Deep in the mountains, where herbs are gathered, there are plenty of people who know the indigo plant!"
4.
When news arrived from the south that an empress had ascended the throne, the Sheng dynasty sent an envoy to bring the princess back from her political marriage. The young envoy's crown was pierced by an arrow.
The unruly young man lifted the pampered princess onto his horse, holding her around the waist.
He pinched her cheek mischievously.
"Divorce? In my Wusu tribe, we only have widows."
Reading Guide
1. The pairing is set, one-on-one, both leads' first relationship
2. Lighthearted nation-building
Theme: Self-reliance and strength
