[Defiant, unruly demon king x vindictive wolf in sheep's clothing]
[A devoted jerk who's second-best at talking tough x a stubborn, self-reliant little drama queen]
[Young warlord x alluring green tea beauty]
Zhu Mingshuang knows that He Zheng hates her most of all.
They grew up together, but when he fell into hardship, she crushed the boy's most sincere feelings, along with the jade pendant betrothal token, underfoot.
Then she turned around and fell into someone else's arms.
Four years later, the frontier campaign ended in victory.
By the time he returned to the capital, he had become the youngest military governor in the dynasty, a war god in the eyes of the borderland's people and soldiers, and a young warlord whose name struck fear across the land.
Faced with the ten beauties the emperor had bestowed upon him, the boy who once held her and solemnly promised by her ear that there would be no one else was gone.
He Zheng rose lazily to accept the emperor's favor. His expression was calm, and he made no attempt to refuse.
When their eyes met, his gaze was utterly indifferent.
Shadows crowded the Imperial Garden.
Looking at the familiar figure, Zhu Mingshuang let the malice in her heart grow. Almost deliberately provoking him, she called out the name of her fiance.
The next second, someone seized her lips and tongue in a brutal kiss.
A kiss after four years apart came crashing down over her.
But it held none of the tenderness or affection it once had.
Only cruelty, each of them tormenting the other in turn.
As if they were trying to see who would be the first to surrender.
Amid hurried, ragged breaths, He Zheng heard a man nearby pause, then walk away. He let out a sudden, quiet laugh.
"Is this the finest young man in Chang'an, the one you chose?"
"Your fiance is being humiliated right in front of you, and he doesn't even dare come over."
He Zheng sneered and leaned close to her ear, his voice dripping with scorn.
"Zhu Mingshuang, you have terrible taste in men."
"Just like I did back then. Blind as a bat, the both of us."
*
Before He Zheng left the capital, beneath the banyan tree where they had first met, Zhu Mingshuang returned the betrothal jade pendant he had nearly been beaten to death to obtain. She told him:
"He Zheng, you know me. I want fine clothes and good food. I want a comfortable life. I want to marry the most successful young man in Chang'an."
"I don't need this pendant anymore."
He lowered his eyes for a long time and never took it. He only asked, "What about me?"
She paused, then said softly, "I don't want you either."
The moment she turned away, he hurled the pendant to the ground. It shattered with a crisp, piercing crack.
"Then I hope you get everything you wished for."
"Zhu Mingshuang, don't you dare regret this."
Those were the last words he said to her before they parted.
The wind and sand reddened the boy's eyes, and even his voice faded into the distance.
Premise: People can overcome fate.
