Little Taoxi

- Bickering couple | Childhood friends | He has a secret crush | Sweet romance

- Tsundere sharp-tongued guy x airheaded sweetheart

[One-line blurb]

My childhood friend and I can't stand each other, but I've fallen for his best friend. What do I do? O-O

[Her side]

The emperor has called a truce with the tribes of the northern frontier. Unwilling to send one of his own princesses far away to marry into the northern tribes, he plans to choose a noblewoman from the imperial clan or an aristocratic family, bestow a title on her, and send her in their stead.

This leaves a whole host of fathers in a panic. The capital is swept up in a rush to marry off its daughters, with families hastily arranging matches for their precious girls to spare them the fate of a diplomatic marriage.

Young men of marriageable age from aristocratic families become the capital's most sought-after bachelors.

Song Jia'en is the only princess of the imperial clan who is of marriageable age. She props up her chin and stares blankly out the window.

Born a precious jewel of a princess in a prince's mansion, she was spoiled as she grew up. Ordinary people couldn't even dream of getting close enough to see her. She spent fifteen carefree years, but at sixteen, she found herself sunk in worry:

She doesn't want to be sent away to marry. So who should she choose?

[His side]

As the heir of Duke Xuanping, Ning Chu was born into a life of wealth and splendor. He joined the Imperial Guard at twelve, solved a century-old cold case and took his enemy's head at fifteen, and became the emperor's youngest trusted confidant at sixteen.

He had grown up surrounded by luxury. He had the family background, the looks, and the skills, along with a little of the spoiled temper common to young noblemen, but nothing too objectionable.

He also had a childhood friend. They were both sixteen, and whenever they met, they bickered. Rumor had it that Ning Chu hated her most of all.

Matchmakers were fighting over the young noblemen of the capital, and Ning Chu was at the top of the list.

Girls who wanted to marry him lined up from the palace gates to the city walls, ranging from twelve to twenty years old.

Even though he was impossibly picky, girls in the capital still tossed handkerchiefs into the Duke's residence every day, hoping to become the heir's wife.

Ning Chu had been born with everything. There was nothing he couldn't have, and he had never cared to give anyone or anything a second glance.

He had spent years acting aloof and proud, but at eighteen, for the first time in his life, he lost his composure.

It happened when his childhood friend, who had never known a thing about love, fell at first sight for the close friend she hadn't seen in years. Blushing shyly, she asked him to deliver a sachet:

"Please! You two are so close. You can definitely help me win him over, right?"

Oblivious Song Jia'en beamed with delight, completely missing the veins that stood out on the arm of the usually reserved and distant young man as he took the sachet, or the look on his livid face.

[Little scene]

The Great Zhou dynasty was home to countless aristocratic families, and power struggles were commonplace. The founding emperor established the Imperial Guard to conduct surveillance and gather intelligence, training trusted officials to serve the sovereign.

The founding emperor decreed that it was the secret arm of the court, the ruler's hunting dogs and the sharp blade in his hand.

Its agents were forbidden to bend the law for personal gain, conceal secrets from the emperor, or marry and have children.

Over time, it became a point of pride among its ranks to have no involvement in romantic affairs.

With the princess's diplomatic marriage looming, the upset young lady locks herself in her room and drinks to drown her sorrows.

But she is clumsy and muddle-headed, mistakes fruit wine for hard liquor, and clings to him in a drunken fit, refusing to let go.

She even mistakes him for the other man she loves, crying and asking why he has become so distant and formal with her.

When Ning Chu's jealousy gets the better of him and Song Jia'en, drunk and bleary-eyed, lets him steal the rouge from her lips, he finally admits his own foul truth:

His pride really was to blame. He was too ashamed to say it, furious, consumed with longing night after night, and unable to have the one thing he wanted.

[Reading Guide]

1. The cold-faced, sharp-tongued heir of the Duke's household x the adorably oblivious young princess

2. He's got eight hundred schemes, but she has fewer than none. A natural airhead is a tsundere's kryptonite~

3. The male lead will eventually strut like a cold-faced peacock, but our girl is a block of wood who just doesn't get it.

4. Their day-to-day bickering is like two little kids squabbling.

[Important!]

The male lead is a sharp-tongued, stubborn childhood friend, and the romance is one-on-one from beginning to end. There is no love triangle. The second male lead is simply a plot device for the leads' romance.

Also, the male lead really cares about his pride. He'll eventually crack again and again as he makes his way through his secret crush, but that happens much later. For a long stretch in the early and middle parts, he'll stubbornly deny his feelings and act like nothing is wrong, even though he tosses and turns at night and is often furious with frustration.

Most importantly, the romance is all about making the male lead suffer. The female lead has a few painful moments, but not many. If that's not for you, please stop reading in time!

[Note]

Xiao Tao: The female lead's nickname.

Xi: A name meaning happiness and good fortune.

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A prequel by the male lead's friend is available next door: "Magpies Above the Brows"

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Theme: Pure and sincere love is the most beautiful