[Clear-Eyed, Scheming Eldest Young Master Who Falls into Obsession vs. Beautiful Orphan, Gentle on the Outside and Strong-Willed Within]
Su Si met Lu Zongyuan when she was nearly starving to death.
He was the eldest young master of the foremost aristocratic clan, while she was an orphan fleeing famine. He gave her the last three pastries he had, giving her the strength to make it to the capital.
He and she were worlds apart.
After arriving in the capital, she followed her late mother's instructions and married her cousin. She diligently served her mother-in-law and cared for her husband, thinking she and Lu Zongyuan would never cross paths again. But just half a month later, her husband suddenly died of illness. Branded a bringer of misfortune, she became someone anyone could trample on.
When she saw Lu Zongyuan again, she was once more living on the streets, now a newly widowed woman cast out of her home, even more destitute than when she had fled the famine. He and she were still worlds apart.
But this time, he blocked her path and murmured with his eyes lowered, "I was wrong."
She didn't understand and ignored him, continuing on her way.
He reached out and caught the corner of her sleeve, but let go a moment later. "People shouldn't be trapped in the cages of the past."
She stopped, but still didn't answer him.
He fell silent for a moment behind her, then said, "Let me help you, all right?"
She turned to look at him. "What business is that of Young Master Lu's?"
Everyone said the eldest young master of the Lu clan was like the pure radiance of a clear moon, beyond anyone's reach. Yet that day, he said to her, newly widowed and cast out of her home, "I, Lu Zongyuan, have fallen for Su Si."
Looking into her eyes, he repeated each word slowly: "I have fallen for you."
At the time, she thought he had simply taken a passing fancy to her. After all, a man who could turn the clouds and rain with a wave of his hand could have any number of beautiful companions and concubines. She paid his words no mind.
It wasn't until later, when she saw him ready to abandon the twenty years of painstaking plans he'd made for her, that she realized every word he'd said that day had come from the heart...
Reader's Guide: 1. At his core, the male lead is a cold-blooded creature in a mild-mannered disguise, but the female lead is the exception.
2. The female lead is an orphan who has seen the wickedness of human nature. She appears gentle and submissive, but is clear-eyed and knows how to avoid harm and seek advantage. At heart, she doesn't believe in love and prefers the security of what she can hold in her own hands. This changes later in the story.
3. The first to fall in love is doomed to suffer. This story is fairly angsty for the male lead, but has a happy ending.
Theme: Human will can triumph over fate.
