Zhu Wuyu is an assassin, the kind who lives up to expectations by taking the head of the treacherous regent.
Badly wounded, she flees into the mountains and is rescued by a blind young scholar.
In the villagers' eyes, she is the "fiancee" brought home by the blind man.
Zhu Wuyu looks at him coldly, but the figure in her heart belongs to someone else.
Luckily, a colleague "abducts the bride," and the two flee under cover of night.
Before they can leave the forest, danger suddenly closes in.
Surrounded on all sides, they find the mountains teeming with the regent's guards.
Her colleague disappears. Zhu Wuyu is forced back to the blind man's home.
Still shaken, she meets the faintly teasing gaze of her "fiance."
The blind man regards her at his leisure, slowly tapping the farewell letter Zhu Wuyu left on the table. His eyes are perfectly clear. "You can't escape. The one you love is already a wandering ghost."
Zhu Wuyu feels as if she has plunged into an icy cavern.
--He isn't blind.
--He's the regent who was supposed to have lost his head.
*
Regent Si Chen is like a dragon coiled in the depths, and when he rages, the lords tremble; when he rests in peace, the world falls quiet.
Though he holds the highest position and countless people adore him, no woman has entered or left the regent's manor in years.
For reasons unknown, however, His Highness the Regent must spend every winter at his southern palace.
Then the Eastern Yi invaded, and the crown prince traveled south to visit the palace. Only then did he see that the place, once as quiet as a monastery, was now full of birdsong and flowers.
Understanding dawned, but he still looked at the beaming Si Chen with curiosity. "Has your iron tree finally blossomed?"
Si Chen wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with his thumb and smiled. "Your Highness, please return."
*
Zhu Wuyu ran away three times, and was caught and brought back three times.
Si Chen clung to her like a bone-deep parasite. Wherever Zhu Wuyu went, his lingering shadow appeared the very next moment.
The last time, Zhu Wuyu looked at the regent kneeling before her.
She tossed back into his arms the imperial seal he had presented to her like a treasured gift.
Bending down close to the flustered regent, she spoke slowly. "It's the blind man who should be imprisoned. The empire is your cage, Your Highness. Don't you agree?"
--
A sly little fox playing dumb x a scheming great serpent lying in wait (the version who learns from experience, then makes the same mistake again)
--
Reader's guide:
1. Both leads have only ever been with each other, 1v1 happy ending. Once their mutual feelings are clear, there are no third parties.
2. The dynasty is fictional, and the historical details are a wild mix. I politely decline related criticism, but welcome corrections.
3. The author's tastes may lean melodramatic. Please don't insult me if that's not your thing.
4. This will not be abandoned; I have a substantial backlog, so feel free to start reading.
5. Written to suit my personal tastes. It may not feature the conventional sort of physical and emotional torment associated with a coercive romance, and some parts may even feel like a wish-fulfillment story.
6. Neither lead is perfect.
Theme: Though poor, grow ever stronger; never abandon your lofty aspirations
Hundreds of lives were lost like this. Is the heroine so lighthearted? Isn't it a bit unreasonable?
So pretty! Keep waiting for the extra episode!
Why do I feel like some parts are missing and I can't understand it? It's like there's an empty part in the middle and it's suddenly connected.