The male and female leads are not blood relatives!
Yu Youyao has a terrible nightmare.
In it, she marries Song Mingzhao, heir to the Marquis of Zhenguo, and becomes the medicine that her third younger sister, Yu Jianjia, needs.
After taking her heart's blood for three years, Yu Youyao is utterly spent and dies with her heart cut out.
When she wakes, Yu Youyao is trembling with fear. She clings to her cousin from Youzhou and says, "Cousin, I'll be good to you for the rest of my life."
Zhou Linghuai stands by her, supports her, and leads her to a life of glory and splendor fit for an empress.
After Yu Youyao comes of age,
Song Mingzhao, heir to the Marquis of Zhenguo, comes to propose marriage.
Zhou Linghuai corners Yu Youyao against the wall, his voice hoarse as he says, "You are not allowed to marry anyone else!"
The Prince of You rebels, and his entire clan is sentenced to death. The heir, Yin Huaixi, assumes the name Zhou Linghuai and moves into the Yu residence, harboring rebellious ambitions and a deep-seated hatred. With the world as his chessboard, he sets the tumultuous age in motion.
Everyone mocks him as a cripple. Only the young girl crouches before him, aching for him: "Cousin, does it hurt?"
Zhou Linghuai vows, "With my broken body and every drop of my blood, I will shield her from the storm, keep dust from her skirts and frost from her temples, protect her all her life, and grant her a lifetime of peace and prosperity."
One-on-one romance, with both leads having clean romantic histories
