Everyone knows Lu Zhaoyun is the hostage, plaything, and spy that State Preceptor Wei Mingzhi left in the Crown Prince's residence.
Lu Zhaoyun had no name at first. The people on the street called her Dirty Dog, because she had no parents and spent all day with dogs. Some even said she was a child raised by dogs.
Lu Zhaoyun knew, but she did not care, because she thought she would not survive the winter.
Everyone said that auspicious snow promised a good harvest. Huddled in an alley, Lu Zhaoyun felt only that the heavy snowfall was hastening her death.
Just as the cold was making her lose consciousness, a sedan chair passed the street corner. Soon, she heard the sound of gongs and someone handing out porridge. Lu Zhaoyun was so hungry she nearly wanted to swallow her own fingers.
Ignoring the curses of others, she stumbled toward the table and stretched out her hand as far as she could. The heavy snow obscured her vision, and Lu Zhaoyun could see nothing.
When the person before her did not respond, Lu Zhaoyun knelt again and raised her hands above her head, begging for a single bowl of porridge.
Only then did the person place a bowl of porridge in her hands. Lu Zhaoyun gulped it down like a dog.
When she had finished the bowl, the person reached out a hand as white as jade and lifted Lu Zhaoyun's chin.
He said, "The gods have taken pity on you. Would you be willing to become my adopted daughter?"
Lu Zhaoyun did not know who he was, but he was the most beautiful person she had ever seen.
He taught Lu Zhaoyun poetry and the classics, trained her in the six arts, and changed her temperament. He turned Dirty Dog into Lu Zhaoyun, then sent her to the Eastern Palace.
Wei Mingzhi said, "Yun'er, you must love the Crown Prince, and make him fall in love with you."
Wei Mingzhi also said, "Yun'er, all of this is for the people of the world. The gods will remember you."
Three years later, when the Crown Prince lost power, Lu Zhaoyun once again knelt below the Star-Gazing Tower, pleading with the State Preceptor to save the Crown Prince's life.
Above her, the immortal-like man stood in white robes as snowy as the peaks. Wei Mingzhi looked at Lu Zhaoyun, but his mind was filled with the image of her from the day before, their temples and cheeks brushing, tears glimmering in her eyes.
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