On a stormy night, Yun Ning rescued a young man wearing only half a thin robe.
The young man's name was Yan Yingzhi. He was a refined and elegant scholar. She took a liking to his handsome looks, and just then, her aunt was planning to sell her to the foolish son of the county magistrate as a bride to bring him good fortune. So Yun Ning used her kindness as leverage and asked him to pretend to be her well-born, high-status sweetheart.
Yan Yingzhi was learned and refined, and came from the Jinling Yan family, whose ancestors had once written books for the emperor. The moment he appeared, everyone took a liking to him. Some tried to steal him away, but in public, he did everything he could to treat Yun Ning well, tender and considerate, the very ideal of a lover in this day and age.
But Yun Ning knew it was all an act!
This man would often grip her hand fiercely and say crazy things like, "When golden wind and jade dew meet" and "You should be a rock, and I should be a reed," behaving with such maddening obsession that he was impossible to reason with.
At first, she neither understood nor wanted to understand. Later, she was won over by his looks and somehow ended up pledging herself to him.
She had thought their love would last forever. Then, one day, she saw Yan Yingzhi fooling around with another young lady, smiling brightly like the spring goddess herself.
Faithless scoundrel! Heartless rogue!
Heartbroken, she left him a letter and boarded a passenger boat back to Chang'an.
*
Her imperial elder sister was busy with state affairs, so she ordered Yun Ning to handle the arrival of a foreign delegation.
One day, at a grand banquet in the palace, Yun Ning rested her chin in her hand and leaned against the railing with a sigh. She watched a white crane dip and rise by the water. Beneath the willows on the bank, a face appeared before her, so familiar, so hateful... and so impossible to forget.
She stared for a quarter of an hour before asking a palace maid, "Who is that?"
The maid replied, "The Prince Regent of Dongli."
Yin Ruyan, Prince Regent of Dongli, was said to be cruel and capricious, with a venomous heart. His brutality was so infamous that people trembled at the mere mention of him.
It was said that just a few days ago, he had cut out a scholar's tongue simply because he disliked a compliment.
None of that mattered.
But... why did this man look exactly like Yan Yingzhi?
Just then, Yin Ruyan raised his eyes. Across the fiery red lotuses blooming on the water, he studied her and gave her the faintest, gentlest smile.
His lips moved:
"I've caught you."
Bonus scene:
Yun Ning's thoughts: He was the one who wronged me, so why is he acting like he was the one who got abandoned? (*¯︿¯) Why put on such a pitiful face?
Yan Yingzhi, who had no idea what had happened but received a breakup letter (crushing flower petals): My wife is heartless. She deceived and betrayed me. I shall capture her.
P.S.
1. One true pairing, one-on-one. The male lead's name is Yingzhi.
2. Two little heartbreakers fall in love. Both had tragic lives growing up. The male lead isn't truly good and kind; he's simply been driven to madness, though he's not all that bad either. There are differences in perspective. The male lead never wavers in his love, and the heroine isn't melodramatic, though there are misunderstandings.
3. Secret identities: both leads have hidden identities.
Theme: Communication matters.
