Fengxi Gu

Feng Wei was born the most expensive medicine jar in the dynasty.

The Imperial Medical Academy said he wouldn't live past twenty. The Imperial Astronomical Bureau declared he was fated to die young. But no one knew that the highly toxic medicines that soaked into his bones had tempered the frail crown prince into a fiend immune to all poisons.

When the Tuerkashi tribe sent a witch as a hostage, the entire court drew a sharp breath at the beauty beneath her veil. But Feng Wei sensed a kindred spirit. The hem of the young woman's skirt carried the faint scent of hidden venomous insects, silver ornaments at her waist chimed like soul-binding bells, and her eyes, more intoxicating than Western Regions wine, brimmed with the very same murderous intent as his own.

The Central Plains' splendor was dazzling, but Wu Erxi thought nothing of it.

She hated the Central Plains emperor's cruelty and greed, and resented her father's weakness and capitulation. He wanted her to be free as a stream, yet still sent her into this cage.

Wu Erxi secretly swore to the Great God Jiaxi: she would return to her homeland by her own strength.

One day, Wu Erxi held a piece of white meat out to the black falcon perched on her shoulder and blocked Feng Wei's path, looking down at him. The young man was handsome beyond compare, with rosy lips and white teeth. He sat quietly on his wheelchair without a word, not even lifting his eyelids.

A moment later, she bent down and forcibly brought her face close to his. "You were the little thief eavesdropping on the roof last night, weren't you?"

A pair of human eyes and a pair of eagle eyes stared at him.

"..."

Feng Wei was forced to meet the young woman's beautiful eyes. His gaze was dark and his expression impassive, but his normally pale ears quietly turned red.

Later, the Golden Throne Hall went up in a sea of karmic fire, and blood stained the palace steps. Feng Wei climbed them over a mountain of corpses.

"Ah Xi wants freedom, so I'll grind this imperial power to dust and pave your road home with it."

Later still, Wu Erxi's oath changed: she would return to the embrace of the Great God Jiaxi, but she would take the only son of the former Central Plains emperor with her.

When a love curse meets true love, this game is played to its final move without regret.

Reader's Guide:

Pairing: An ambitious girl from the Miao borderlands who loves playing with snakes, fighting eagles, and using poison arts & a high-ranking, pure-hearted obsessive whose life is full of danger

Keywords: Empress, strong leads, hiding one's strength behind a harmless facade

Theme: Love matters as much as one's country