When Xiao Yunshu was an unnamed princess in the Cold Palace, she secretly had a crush on the young general surnamed Pei.
He was born into nobility, had won countless military honors, and was handsome, yet never showed the slightest arrogance in how he treated others.
Pei Du never looked at her with disdain like her brothers and sisters did, nor did he behave like the palace attendants who pretended to be kind to her face, then called her an illegitimate mongrel with impure blood behind her back.
Her young general was a bright moon in the distant sky. Its light did not shine for her, but its pure radiance was a small comfort that helped her survive in the deep palace.
*
The moon may endure through the ages, but people's hearts are fickle.
The young general who once defended the frontier for the emperor gradually became the target of suspicion after a string of victories.
The conflicts at court soon reached the imperial harem. Even Xiao Yunshu, who had no connections at court, heard the rumors that Pei Du, a military commissioner commanding tens of thousands of troops, might harbor rebellious ambitions.
The emperor and his ministers discussed the matter all day, then decided to arrange a marriage for the young frontier commander.
All his other daughters had already married, and only Xiao Yunshu, who lived in the Cold Palace, was of a suitable age and still unmarried.
She received a title, servants of her own, and an estate.
Her father gave her everything a princess should have, and even raised her mother's rank. But the price was that she had to become Pei Du's bedmate, keep an eye on his every move, and serve as the emperor's most useful blade at his bedside.
On their wedding night, Xiao Yunshu sat alone all night, but the footsteps of the other person never came to the bridal chamber.
She thought it was only right. In name, she was his wife, but in truth she was the emperor's eyes and ears. He was right to fear and suspect her.
The poems she'd written as a lovestruck girl were put away at the bottom of a trunk, like an old dream whose owner would never speak of it again.
*
Pei Du joined the army when he was young and rose to a high position at an early age. He had weathered countless storms.
He'd thought that no matter what he encountered from then on, he could handle it calmly and steadily.
Until he saw the yellowed papers in his wife's trunk:
Her childish handwriting concealed all the fanciful thoughts of a girl in love.
After the fury passed, a deep ache lingered in his heart.
...Just what sort of man had won her favor?
Also known as: #Married to the One I Had a Crush On (Her POV) #Jealous of Myself and Competing with Myself for Her (His POV)
[Reading Guide]
1. One-on-one romance, happy ending, marriage before love.
2. Fictional dynasty, with a mountain of original worldbuilding.
3. The leads are both flawed characters. The heroine's story is one of growth.
4. The title comes from Huang Tingjian's "Green Jade Case: Sent to Yizhou, Written in Response to My Seventh Brother's Poem": "I remember getting drunk on poems back then; crossing water and clouds, my heart was already yours."
Theme: I remember getting drunk on poems back then; crossing water and clouds, my heart was already yours.
