Ming Xi was the most spoiled and willful princess in Great Chu. Her father, the emperor, arranged for her to marry Xie Yunzheng, the General Who Guards the North.
She thought him crude, and he thought her spoiled and overbearing. They couldn't stand each other.
It wasn't until enemy forces laid siege to the city that Ming Xi realized the world was far from peaceful.
To the north, cavalry battered the border year after year. To the south, feudal lords carved out territories and ignored imperial orders. At court, factions schemed against each other. The treasury was empty, and the people were displaced.
But all she had ever known was the capital's splendor and the springtime beauty within the palace walls. She thought everyone in the world ought to cater to her.
On the day the city fell, Xie Yunzheng led three thousand battered soldiers back through the fighting, risking his life to get her out.
When the nest is destroyed, no egg can survive.
Before her very eyes, the beautiful land was shattered beneath the barbarian cavalry's iron hooves. Countless palaces were reduced to scorched earth, and Great Chu's hundred-year foundation collapsed overnight.
When she returned to the night of her wedding, Ming Xi, who should have been furious, looked at the tall, imposing man before her and suddenly felt her eyes grow hot.
This time, there was still time to change everything!
In her previous life, he had protected her with his life. He had clearly loved her, yet he never said a word about it before he died.
Ming Xi felt both a pang of tenderness and a smug satisfaction. Considering that he'd died for her in his previous life, perhaps she could patiently coax him a little...
Ming Xi rested her chin in her hand and looked at him. "Xie Yunzheng, why do you never look me in the eye?"
Xie Yunzheng replied, "I wouldn't dare, Your Highness."
Ming Xi asked, "Then am I beautiful?"
Xie Yunzheng replied, "...I wouldn't know."
Ming Xi gritted her teeth and endured it.
"Then tell me, do you have me in your heart?"
After a long silence, Xie Yunzheng said, "My heart belongs only to my country."
Ming Xi finally lost her temper. She grabbed a pillow and hurled it at him. "You wooden block! I died for nothing in my last life!"
Fine, a wooden block it was. She was the one who owed him from her previous life, after all.
Extra Scene:
Steward: "General! The princess says you came home too late today and won't let you into the bedroom."
Xie Yunzheng pushed open the door without a hint of shame. "I'll accept my punishment."
Steward: "General! The princess says you smell of blood and wants you to sleep in the study from now on."
Xie Yunzheng turned and ordered, "Prepare a fragrant bath."
Steward: "General!!!"
Xie Yunzheng: "What is it now?"
Steward: "The princess says you're not gentle enough, so she's gone out to find the top-ranking candidate in the palace examinations!"
Xie Yunzheng gritted his teeth and drew his sword.
"General, stay calm! That's the princess!"
"I'll teach that top-ranking candidate what gentle means."
Theme: May all who love each other find their way to one another in the end.
