[A sweet, sunny girl x a lovesick, sweet-on-the-outside schemer]
An arranged marriage that turns into love, followed by a fiery chase to win her back
Feng Xiting has an excellent fiance.
Though frail, he has a face as beautiful as a woman's, and as the Crown Prince, he is quite the match to make everyone in the capital envious.
But she is ugly and coarse, hardly what the capital would consider a proper young lady.
In the capital, a woman's beauty lies in a slender figure and elegant bearing.
But Xiting grew up amid the sandy borderlands. How could she compare with those noble ladies, whose skin is like ice and jade and whose every glance and smile is full of charm?
When the noblewomen invited her to banquets, it was mostly to mock and taunt her.
She didn't particularly care. She simply ate in silence, too busy to pay attention to anything they said.
But her fiance, who was admired throughout the capital, was scathing and harsh in public for the first time, all to defend her in every way.
Xiting merely wiped the grease from the corner of her mouth with a handkerchief, curved her lips into a sweet smile, and said, "Thank you, Your Highness."
As for falling in love? That could wait.
He Zан was the very picture of a celestial beauty, with an extraordinary bearing and a body like jade. In his twenty years of life, he had never put a foot wrong.
Now he had offended many people for the sake of his plain-looking fiancee, leading plenty to wonder whether the Crown Prince was actually into ugly women.
But nobody knew that He Zan's frail health was caused by the cold poison placed on him by the current Empress. He had approached Feng Xiting of his own accord simply to play on her feelings, obtain an antidote, and go up against the Empress.
So the people of the capital were always seeing the Crown Prince, despite his illness, following that "ugly girl" Xiting with tender affection, enjoying the scenery together and watching the dazzling lanterns...
And all he got in return was Xiting's sincere thanks.
"Thank you for keeping me company, Your Highness."
As for affection? They were just playmates.
But over time, He Zan became the one who fell for her amid all the pretense.
Then, by a cruel twist of fate, Xiting saw the secret letter about "killing his wife once the plan succeeds" before it could be burned.
After reading it, Xiting simply brought him the antidote and said they should call it even.
He Zan stared at her utterly unruffled face, gritted his teeth, and slapped away the bowl of antidote he had begged so hard to obtain.
Furious, he demanded, "Feng Xiting! Have you never had even the slightest bit of sincerity toward me?"
Xiting only looked at his furious, hysterical face in bewilderment.
She said, "You wanted sincerity, Your Highness? I sincerely went looking for an antidote for you."
Content notes: One-on-one romance, both leads are sexually inexperienced, the female lead is slow to understand her feelings
Theme: Deception is shameful
