Longing to Pluck a Spring Branch

With no way out, when Nan Zhi was sent to Gu Yanzhao's bed, she smiled meekly and compliantly. "Please be gentle with me, my lord."

His fingertips were cold as he joked that he would strip her of her flawless skin and delicate bones to make a beauty drum.

Nan Zhi concealed her identity and stole his secrets, all to buy herself time.

He watched coldly, finding her amusing, and indulged her audacity.

She refused to bend and solved one strange case after another.

He cleared away every obstacle in her path, letting her turn the world upside down.

Later, the all-powerful minister fell into ruin, abandoned by everyone. "Gu Yanzhao, weren't you going to strip off my skin and make a drum? How can you die like this?"

Only after the layers of mysteries were unraveled did she learn that he carried a blood feud and had long since been left with no way out.

"Gu Yanzhao, this time, I'll solve the puzzle for you."

He reached out and caught hold of his light. "For the rest of my life, I want to live for you alone."

Spring ran deep as the sea. He had meant to pluck a branch and hold it in his hand, but instead he willingly bowed his head and sank into its depths.