(Obsessive hate + groveling for forgiveness)
During the years Shang Xu was imprisoned in Prince Regent Pei Zhiwei's manor, she would sometimes think back to the past.
Back then, she was the celebrated zither player of the capital.
And he was still the spirited young noble who had caused an uproar throughout the city to marry her.
But later, the Pei family fell from power, and she had no choice but to give herself to another man.
Unexpectedly, on her wedding day, Pei Zhiwei led troops into the imperial city and took her by force in front of everyone.
-
Shang Xu knew Pei Zhiwei had stopped loving her long ago.
He imprisoned her in the Prince Regent's manor, humiliating her day and night, but refused to give her a title.
He even forced her to give away the zither he'd once gifted her.
On New Year's Eve, when the court officials gathered for a banquet, he ordered her to play the zither and pour wine for their entertainment.
When an official took a liking to her and asked for her, she heard the contempt in Pei Zhiwei's voice:
"A lowly, heartless performer, and you still find her appealing?"
His icy voice made her hand tremble. As she poured, the wine overflowed the cup and soaked the official's clothes, giving him an excuse to pull her into his arms.
She turned back in alarm and saw Pei Zhiwei's face darken. He yanked her out of the man's arms:
"No surprise, given your brothel upbringing. You really know how to tempt men."
"You want to leave with someone else?"
That night, he bit her shoulder in fury and pronounced his sentence beside her ear.
"Shang Xu, even if you die, you'll die in my arms."
That winter seemed endless. She knocked over the brazier in her room and burned the zither she would never play again, reducing everything to ashes.
-
Pei Zhiwei had always believed he hated Shang Xu.
That woman was greedy for wealth and status, faithless, and too skilled at pretending. She deserved to die.
He thought they would spend their whole lives tormenting each other.
Until the Lantern Festival night when news came that a fire had broken out in her room.
He rushed into the flames with bloodshot eyes, heedless of everything,
but found only a charred zither and a disfigured corpse. A mouthful of blood spilled from him.
Fireworks fell across the sky, just like the night they first met, but the body in his arms was already ice-cold.
Only then, consumed by unbearable grief, did he regret everything.
He had never hated her. The only person he had hated all along was himself.
· Gentle, resilient white moonlight x a villainous, unhinged prince regent
[Reading Guide]
1. Both leads have had no other sexual partners. One-on-one romance, happy ending.
2. A tragic romance of love and hate, with a groveling-for-forgiveness arc. The female lead fakes her death. Old-fashioned and melodramatic.
3. The female lead is not greedy for wealth and status (emphasis). She really had no choice. Please don't blame her; feel free to blame the male lead.
Theme: Love will always be greater than hate.
