Li Yunyi is a county lady without a title.
She has a bookish sweetheart she cannot forget.
For his sake, she defies an imperial edict and flees an arranged marriage.
Wang Xuange is a rising nobleman at court, famed for his military achievements.
He, too, has a moonlight-white sweetheart he cannot forget, a spirited and carefree young woman.
For her sake, he exchanges his military merits for an imperial decree granting him a marriage.
At their first meeting, Li Yunyi immediately makes an enemy of him. "Neither of us is going to have an easy time."
After they marry, they bicker, fight, and trade personal insults every day.
To their utter surprise, Wang Xuange develops feelings for her. He starts showing off.
A chance encounter, conspicuously deliberate touches, and the handsome-man seduction strategy from the Thirty-Six Stratagems leave Li Yunyi baffled. "Has he lost his mind?"
After twice facing life and death together, Li Yunyi lets go of her prejudice and takes the first step into his world.
Wang: "But I'm him!"
"Why did you forget me... Why did you forget only me? You remember all the servants in the manor, so why did you forget me?"
"Why did it have to be me?"
Li: (slaps him) "You're not him."
Li Yunyi is trapped by her memories and stubbornness, unwilling to believe that he is the bookish young man she once loved.
Will she let go of her stubborn beliefs, or has she fallen for someone else? Li Yunyi actually falls in love with Wang Xuange. To ease her conscience, she keeps trying to reassure herself: "He'll forgive me... What if he's telling the truth? What if he really is that man...?"
Their sweet days do not last long before the capital is thrown into turmoil.
Li Yunyi heads south to open a shop and accidentally discovers that a villain is gathering troops to rebel. She is captured.
The villain treats her well and provides her with good food, but she is determined to escape and refuses to eat to show her resolve.
Villain: "My lady, you are already two months pregnant. If you don't want this child, I'll call a physician at once. Why hurt yourself by refusing food?"
Back in the capital, Wang Xuange is stripped of his position. On his way south to find Li Yunyi, he is ambushed and falls into a river. His life or death is unknown.
Reader's guide:
1. Both leads remain faithful to each other, but the heroine loses her memory and forgets only the hero.
2. Early on, the heroine is sharp-tongued and takes things out on others. Later, she thinks she has fallen for someone else and gets a little tangled up in her own feelings.
3. The main plot is a love story, and the short episodic tales serve the relationship between the leads.
4. The style of the first half differs somewhat from the second, and there may be quite a few typos.
Theme: If you love someone, keep loving her
