A gentle, literary-minded female editor x a gloomy, unhinged, black-hearted little beggar
A priceless jade has been stolen from the Imperial Astronomical Bureau.
Legend has it that whoever possesses this treasure can glimpse the secrets of Heaven. No one but the Imperial Preceptor has ever seen what it looks like, and even he has offered only a cryptic description: pure white and lustrous, nourishing to the body and mind.
Gu Xiaoxiao doesn't care much, until the Imperial Preceptor announces that whoever recovers the Heshibi can exchange it for anything he owns. Ten thousand taels of gold, shops, land: whatever the Imperial Preceptor has is up for grabs.
Gu Xiaoxiao is immediately tempted. That night, as she's undressing to bathe, she finds the stolen Heshibi right before her eyes. The priceless jade is in the mouth of a beautiful little beggar in the bathtub, his eyes wide as a startled deer.
His skin is as white and smooth as jade, flushed from soaking in the hot water.
Before she can react, a sharp dagger is already at her throat.
"Little beggar, how about a deal? You don't kill me, and I won't kill you, okay?" Gu Xiaoxiao swears the smile on her face is the most sincere one she's ever managed.
But the little beggar frowns. "I'm not a little beggar. I have a name."
"What is it?"
"Heshibi."
Jade means desire, and it's highly nourishing.
Reader's guide: 1. The male lead is single-minded and easy to fool. He's uneducated and thinks a little differently from ordinary people. He's a born black-hearted schemer, and to him, only possession means ownership.
2. Set in the same world as "Broken Bones," but in the dynasty that follows it. The leads from "Broken Bones" make occasional guest appearances. You can read this story without reading the previous one.
3. A mountain of author-invented details. The setting draws mostly on the Tang and Song dynasties.
Theme: Cherish the people around you
