Yan Gui was born into this world from another life. She spent half her life making her way through the fading Han court, becoming adept at dealing with everyone and keeping herself safe.
Though she lived at the end of the Eastern Han dynasty, she had no interest in the famous figures of history. She only looked forward to leaving the palace when she came of age, finding a steady man, farming a little, watching the sunset, and living out her days in peace.
By her calculations, she would leave the palace around the time Dong Zhuo threw the capital into chaos. She bought farmland and prepared her money and valuables, hoping to get away before Luoyang fell into turmoil.
But time went awry. Dong Zhuo entered the capital earlier than she'd expected, disrupting her plans and making her one of his servants.
At a banquet filled with music and dancing, everyone offered congratulations to Dong Zhuo, praising him for taking in such a fine adopted son.
She raised her head and met the man's gaze.
So this was Lu Bu, the fickle, reckless man of great strength who had shot an arrow through a halberd's opening.
He looked at her with such burning intensity that she felt uncomfortable.
She knew he was interested in her. So what? Like everyone else, he had seen in her something he lacked but longed for. How boring.
"You're his servant. Kill him, and you'll be mine."
Yan Gui: "?"
Dong Zhuo, who had been lording it over the capital just days earlier, now lay with his head pierced by a halberd, red and white spilling across the ground. Yan Gui's mind went blank.
She knew that, in the official histories, Dong Zhuo and Lu Bu turned against each other over a servant girl. But the histories never said it was her!
Lu Bu abducted her, and her plans to retire in seclusion were derailed once again.
She hadn't taken him seriously. He might have been the strongest warrior of the Three Kingdoms, but he had no foresight and was reckless and quick-tempered. Compared with her, his brains might not even be half the size of hers. If she wanted to leave, no one could stop her.
But as she looked into his frank, crystal-clear eyes, another voice began to clamor in her heart, driven by a fierce desire.
She wanted to tame this beast who recognized no family ties.
Would she risk it?
Risk believing she could truly tame him, risk believing the tiger would truly accept its master.
.
Theme: Sometimes it's wise to play dumb
