Shen Qiran suffers from a strange condition: if she doesn’t sincerely praise at least ten people in a day, she suffers stabbing pain in her chest and coughs up blood nonstop.
To stay alive, she has no choice but to greet everyone with a smile and hand out compliments as if they cost nothing.
Thanks to her silver tongue, this unpopular concubine-born daughter of the Shaoqing household manages to grow up safely to the age of sixteen.
But not everyone in this world likes hearing pretty words.
Xie Yi, the powerful head of the Court of Judicial Review, is known as the “Cold-Faced King of Hell.” He hates flatterers and toadies more than anything.
As it happens, on the day of a palace banquet, Shen Qiran slips and falls into the water. In her panic, she grabs hold of him as he passes by the pond.
In full view of everyone, their clothes soaked through, the two are forced to marry. Xie Yi decides that she is a scheming woman who only wants to attach herself to him.
He watches her coolly as she flits around him every day like a sparrow:
“My husband is peerlessly handsome, the finest man in the capital.”
“My husband’s swordsmanship is divine. Just seeing it is unforgettable!”
Xie Yi closes his eyes and presses his knuckles to his temple.
How unbearably noisy.
He waits for her to show her true colors.
Instead, he watches her praise everyone in the household day after day. The gatekeeper, the cook, the accountant, the embroiderer: even the dog in the back courtyard wags its tail three extra times when it sees her.
One day, Shen Qiran sidles up to him again and watches him drink his tea. Then she suddenly says:
“My husband’s lips are such a lovely red. They look so soft.”
She says it casually, as if she were commenting on the sunny weather or a sparrow beneath the eaves.
As soon as she finishes, a clear birdcall rings out from beyond the window.
Her eyes light up. She lifts her skirt and hurries after it.
Suddenly, he is alone at his desk.
After a long while,
he lowers his gaze and sets down his teacup.
His fingertip brushes ever so lightly across his lower lip.
Then he abruptly stops.
*
Xie Yi considers himself made of stone, and absolutely certain that a few sweet words could never sway him.
Until the day of a banquet at the Duke’s residence.
He takes his customary seat, only to see her smiling brightly at the young heir of the Duke’s household.
“Young Master, your elegance is incomparable. This jade crown suits you perfectly. You’re the best-dressed man in the capital.”
Xie Yi’s hand pauses slightly as he holds his cup.
Those were the exact same words she used to praise his jade hairpin three days ago.
The teacup in his hand suddenly shatters.
*
That night, Xie Yi pins her down on the bed. His gaze is dark, but his voice is cold.
“Shen Qiran, are you this devoted to everyone?”
A sudden stabbing pain grips Shen Qiran’s chest. Oh no! She’s still one person short of her daily quota!
She blurts out, “Husband! You’re peerlessly handsome, majestic, wise, and decisive in battle...”
Xie Yi is so exasperated that he leans in and silences her with a kiss. “...Shut up.”
Female lead: A compliment-powered survivor, a scholar with a doctorate in life-saving sweet talk. She really is just afraid of dying.
Male lead: All bark and secretly soft, annoyed by her compliments but afraid she’ll stop, a cold-faced, brooding king of jealousy.
Theme: Peace.
A Taste of Lin'an
Straight to the Top
After Descending to the Mortal Realm, the Buddha Venerable Faces a Fiery Reckoning
After Reincarnating as the Villainess, I Got a Happy Ending with the Hero
I Was Flirting with the Male Lead When I Transmigrated into a Book
After I Was Reborn, My Ex-Husband's Whole Family Was Reborn Too
A Guide to Raising a Handsome, Powerful, and Unhinged Male Supporting Character
I Won the Heart of the Aloof Beauty by Writing Romance Stories
Flirting with the Black-Hearted One by Mistake
Master, Please Stop Competing