Noblewomen crowded the capital, and Youwei did not stand out.
She was timid and fragile, innocent and clumsy. Her learning was average, her needlework was poor, and even her face only counted as "cute," far from the "stunning beauty" others adored.
She never imagined someone would, because of a single sentence of hers, secretly take her to see fireflies, or pick alpine azaleas blooming toward the snow-capped mountains in the northwest. She smiled wide as she looked, and he suddenly cupped her face, solemn to the point of reverence. "Your eyes look like the stars of the northwest."
At the time, Youwei thought he must have grown up in a honey jar to have so much tenderness to share.
Later, she learned his name was Li Chengjue, the Fourteenth Prince. His mother was an unfavored foreign princess married into the court. The emperor despised his blood; his brothers bullied his weakness. An unloved prince in the palace lived worse than a dog.
Youwei said nothing after hearing this. She rose on tiptoe and embraced him. Her voice trembled, yet stayed firm. "From now on, I will treat you well."
He laughed softly in her ear. Youwei thought it was joy.
After that, the dragon throne fell empty, and blood cleansed the imperial city. The Fourteenth Prince, once mocked and humiliated, stepped through mountains of his brothers' corpses with a sword and became the new emperor.
At the celebration banquet, her father brought her because he had followed the rightful ruler at the turning point. Unexpectedly, a meritorious minister asked to marry Youwei, Zhuang Huaixu, the grand chancellor's son.
Youwei thought he would help her refuse, since he knew her heart.
She saw Li Chengjue seated high on the dragon throne. As if hearing the name for the first time, he toyed with his cup, interested. "Oh? If you like her, I consent."
His tone floated, like granting a dish at the banquet, a cup of wine, a trivial bauble.
Youwei felt ice swallow her. Amid congratulations, she woke in a flash. He had never wanted her, Yu Youwei. He wanted her father, who commanded the Imperial Guard in the capital.
As for her, she was only a pebble underfoot on Li Chengjue's climb to the summit.
Youwei bowed her head and accepted what fate arranged. She neither cried nor made a fuss.
Her husband, Zhuang Huaixu, acted gentle and courteous, treated her with respectful distance, and their married life felt quiet and happy. Everything seemed fine. The sad past should be set aside. No need to think further.
When they met again at a palace feast, she followed her husband to give thanks. She stepped on her hem by accident, and her husband steadied her. She looked at him and blushed. Everyone teased the newlyweds for their sweet affection. Li Chengjue smiled too, and the jade ring on his hand shattered into two pieces.
On the day she left the capital with her husband, the carriage overturned, and Youwei lost her sight.
As she recovered, Zhuang Huaixu seemed to become a different person.
By day, he held her, fed her, gave her medicine, never left her side, and yielded in everything with a tenderness that made her heart tremble. By night, he turned frighteningly overbearing, trapped her in his arms, and his hoarse voice wound around her name with an absolute desire to control.
Her blind days were absurdly honeyed.
As for her vision slowly returning, Youwei planned to make it a surprise.
That night, in hazy moonlight, she saw a tall figure bring medicine, sit beside her, and the candlelight revealed a face carved into her bones, Li Chengjue's face.
He soothed her with the exact same voice as her husband, gentle and smiling, yet his eyes churned with possessiveness that bordered on madness.
"Finish the medicine, and we should sleep now, wife."
Youwei ran with everything she had, then he caught her and took her back again.
"You said you would treat me well from now on. Why break your word?"
Content warnings
-The male lead will impersonate someone's husband. He is rather dark and unsettling. If you dislike this, do not read.
-Both leads are sexually inexperienced. If you prefer the heroine not to be a virgin, read with caution.
-Readers who demand rigorous historical sourcing should consider carefully.