A timid but resilient young lady x the domineering, devoted Third Crown Prince of the Netherworld
Lu Zhixiu's mother was the legitimate wife of General Lu. On the very day he rose to the highest rank, she mysteriously fell into a river and died. That very night, Lu Zhixiu began entering the dreams of a strange man.
The hazy underworld was shrouded in mist all year round, making it impossible for Lu Zhixiu to see his face.
Everyone kept saying her mother had been unlucky, and that perhaps she'd been brought down by her daughter, who was born in the year, month, day, and hour of yin, making her ill-fated.
Her family criticized, tormented, and ignored her in ways both overt and subtle. All she could do was swallow it in silence.
Then her stepmother's younger brother broke the leg of a notorious young nobleman in the capital. To make amends, her stepmother wanted to throw Lu Zhixiu at him and appease his anger.
Worried sick, Lu Zhixiu lost her way while climbing the mountain to pray to Guanyin.
Rain poured down, and Lu Zhixiu took shelter in an old, dilapidated temple.
There were no gods enshrined there, only an enormous stone snake coiled above her.
Lu Zhixiu glanced at it, and in a daze, seemed to see it approaching her.
After that, Lu Zhixiu was plagued by nightmares.
Every night, a cold snake would coil around her and demand to make love.
*
Jun Ying, the Third Crown Prince of the Netherworld, once saved a pure-yin infant girl who was being tormented by a hundred ghosts. He never expected that years later, when he was undergoing a tribulation, she would barge in without a care and bow to him three times.
Her scent was intoxicating.
Jun Ying was moved for a moment and entwined himself with her.
"Jun Ying? Third Crown Prince? Then what's your second brother called?"
"Jun Zi."
"...And your eldest brother?"
"Jun Er."
"Your parents..." In the end, faced with the snake's puzzled gaze, Lu Zhixiu praised him: "They must be so cultured!"
The snake proudly swished his tail and coiled around Lu Zhixiu's wrist.
Theme: Have the courage to fight against an unjust fate.
