After her parents passed away, Shen Qingqing came to the capital with a marriage contract in search of her husband.
She had heard the villagers say that her husband held a high office in the capital.
Shen Qingqing arrived in the capital with the contract, but before she could find her husband, she fell into the hands of bandits.
To save her life, she had no choice but to write her husband a letter begging for help.
After nightfall, a troop of men came to rescue her.
The man's voice was cool and clear, like a breeze plucking the strings of an ancient zither.
"Did you write this letter?"
Shen Qingqing didn't think much of it. This man had to be her husband.
"Husband, have you come to take me home?"
Her slender hand wound around his cold, long fingers, each knuckle sharply defined.
A dangerous glint flashed in the man's eyes. He let her take his hand and led her back to his residence.
Her husband seemed aloof, yet at night he treated her tenderly.
Shen Qingqing served him carefully and did her best to please him. At last, their wedding day drew near.
But when she saw the censor arrive at the banquet carrying the token, she realized she had mistaken one man for another.
The censor was her true betrothed. The man who had rescued her that day was Wei Cihе, a treacherous minister with power over the entire court.
Now utterly at a loss, she took off her wedding dress and tried to flee, only to be locked inside the bridal chamber by Wei Cihe.
Their breaths mingled, and the air between them turned charged with desire.
"You're already mine, Qingqing. Where do you think you're running?"
*** ***
Everyone knew that Wei Cihe, the powerful prime minister, was as aloof and unattainable as a clear breeze beneath a bright moon.
No one imagined that a poor farmer's daughter would outwit him and become pregnant with his child.
Everyone said Wei Cihe would surely kill this scheming temptress with his own hands.
At the emperor's banquet, Wei Linghe even brought the orphaned girl into the palace and held an umbrella over her. Though the hem of his own brocade robe was soaked through, he would not let a single drop touch her.
He acknowledged neither emperor nor father. Born a fallen, filthy demon, he was willing to bow at her feet and be her devout believer.
Yet he never expected that the only warmth he would ever find in this life would come because of someone else.
Amid a sea of flames, Wei Cihe's pristine, snow-white robe was stained with blood.
"Our meeting was a mistake from the very beginning. Can you let me go?"
Shen Qingqing clutched the dagger, her hand trembling and her voice shaking.
Wei Cihe gazed at her with a tenderness bordering on madness. His voice was low and husky, like fine wine.
"You want to kill me for him?"
His eyes were bloodshot. His cold hand clasped hers, their fingers intertwined, and he pushed the dagger deeper.
Blood sprayed from his chest, yet he laughed like a madman.
"If you want my life for your husband, then take it."
Theme: Love begins without one knowing how
