Chapter 1: Marriage

Snow drifted in the pitch-black night of the twelfth lunar month. Inside the inn, decorations were festooned, and guests were as numerous as clouds.

A pair of slender, strong hands pushed open the door to the guest room. Before even entering, the rush of hot air made her whole body tremble.

The drunken person, now met with warmth, was already completely disoriented, her head so heavy she nearly stumbled over the threshold.

Her unsteady feet stepped over the door sill, and out of habit, she turned around and closed the door.

The drunkard staggered into the inner room. The inn’s suite was divided into an outer room for receiving guests and an inner room where the bed was placed for rest. The drunkard wore a red robe, her tall, slender figure apparent. Her black hair was tied up like a man’s, and two red silk ribbons, symbols of joy, shimmered with the luster of spring in the candlelight.

The brocade canopy over the bed had already been drawn down, hiding the person inside from view.

“Miss Song, I don’t want to marry you, but your father forced and dragged me into bowing for the ceremony. Don’t worry, I absolutely will not touch you.”

The drunkard looked left and right. The bridal chamber arranged by the Song Family was rather shabby. There weren’t even a pair of red candles, and even the bed canopy was blue, showing not a trace of festivity.

Even so, she steadied her mind and muttered, trying to reason with the other party: “I’m a woman, a woman marrying a woman—people will laugh. I know your father wants you to follow me back to the Imperial Capital. My family doesn’t have too many strict rules, but I haven’t even met you before. Rushing into marriage is not what I wanted.”

“I… I saved the Song Family’s convoy purely out of moral duty. My father raised me from childhood to be benevolent and righteous. I couldn’t stand by and watch people die.”

“I’m returning to the capital to report on my duties. In the future, I might not even be able to leave the capital. Marrying me won’t lead to any good prospects.”

She muttered for a long time, but the person inside the brocade canopy was silent; at most, she heard a few hurried breaths.

The drunkard curiously perked up her ears, let out an “Eh?”, and felt her own face flush just from listening.

She patted her own cheeks, a pure smile rippling across her fair face. “You’re upset, aren’t you? I’ll go talk to your father tomorrow. But your father is stubborn, he won’t listen to me. How about you come to the capital with me? I’ll ask my mother to take you as a sworn daughter, and then we can find you a husband in the capital.”

The only response was the same rapid breathing.

The drunkard, slow to catch on, finally noticed something was wrong. She reached out and lifted the brocade canopy, her eyes meeting a flushed face.

Perhaps it was from reading too many storybooks, but Shen Sheng blurted out in surprise: “Did your father give you an aphrodisiac?”

“What a terrible father…”

The woman on the bed abruptly opened her eyes, startling Shen Sheng so much she took a step back. Those eyes were as dark and lightless as twin whirlpools, a cold loneliness emanating from her very bones, passing through the skin and seeping into the deepest part of one’s heart.

The drunkard rubbed her eyes and looked again. The woman frowned, her eyelashes holding droplets of moisture, her breath hurried.

Shen Sheng looked at the person before her in a daze. The other’s skin was fair, like the finest white glaze, without a single flaw.

The Song Family’s daughter was truly beautiful.

Their eyes met. Shen Sheng slowly took in the woman’s features. Not only were her features exquisite, but her facial contour gave off a sense of sharp, breathtaking beauty.

Cool and pure, like the bright, bright moon.

Noble and chaste, like cold, cold snow.

Shen Sheng continued her rambling: “You’re in pain, aren’t you? I’ll help you.”

With that, Shen Sheng leaned forward. The woman’s blurry eyes flickered with a hint of killing intent, but Shen Sheng was the first to curve her lips, her bones radiating a desire for friendly helpfulness.

She reached out and grasped the woman’s wrist, muttering: “The military doctor said pricking the Shaoshang acupoint can release heat. The Shaoshang acupoint is on the finger. Bear with it a moment…”

The woman on the bed paused her movements subtly, and the light in her eyes gradually warmed inch by inch. The drunkard held her wrist, looking left and right, seemingly unable to find the location of the Shaoshang acupoint.

The woman endured for a moment, but Shen Sheng was still shaking her head, staring at her finger as if she might bore a hole through it.

Finally, she mumbled: “Why does one of your hands have ten fingers?”

She was seeing double.

The woman’s cold lips curved up. “That’s because there’s something wrong with your eyes.”

When the woman spoke, her voice carried a hint of allure. After the words were out, she realized it herself and pressed her lips shut, saying nothing more.

“I can’t do it. I can’t find the Shaoshang acupoint. I can’t help you.”

Under the bright lamplight, Shen Sheng’s statement made the woman relax slightly. She lay down feebly, her long eyelashes covering her eyelids, her dry, dehydrated lips pursed tightly.

That face, coupled with her actions, carried an indescribable temptation. Shen Sheng stared blankly at that face. Their gazes intertwined, the woman’s breath lingered by her ear, warm and tempting.

Shen Sheng felt her breathing; each exhale and inhale seemed to land on her own heart, bringing an indescribable, wondrous feeling. Shen Sheng began to feel resentful towards Miss Song’s father: “Your father treats you so poorly, using you as a tool to climb the social ladder for wealth and power.”

Knowing his daughter was unwilling, he still forced her and even drugged her. What a father, worse than a beast.

The woman closed her eyes, enduring the pain. The color of her lips was extremely pale, so pale it seemed her soul had left her, her whole being ethereal, otherworldly.

Shen Sheng angrily gripped the dagger at her waist, full of righteous indignation: “I’ll go find him for you…”

The woman heard this and looked over. The drunkard left, her steps unsteady. Forget settling accounts, even leaving the room would be difficult.

Two breaths later, sure enough, a loud clatter rang out. The woman still propped herself up to sit, looking towards the direction of the sound. The drunkard had bumped into the screen and was lying face-up on the floor, clutching her head, looking like she was about to cry.

“Shen Sheng…” The woman called out softly, sounding extremely helpless.

“How do you know my name…” Shen Sheng, as if undaunted by any hardship, scrambled up again. Holding her head, she walked over to the woman and stared at her bloodshot eyes. “Don’t worry, I’ll definitely help you get revenge. I’ll take you home, let you be my little sister.”

The woman: “…”

The woman glanced at her, her ink-black eyes carrying a trace of innate coldness. “You’d be more like my mother.”

“That won’t work, my father died long ago. I can’t get him a second wife.” Shen Sheng answered very seriously. Her forehead throbbed with pain, and the world swam before her eyes.

The Shen Family had been military officers for generations, guarding the border. The Shen family had four sons and one daughter. Three years ago, in the battle for An City, Father Shen and his four sons were trapped. Reinforcements were delayed again and again. In the end, the five perished for their country.

That year, Shen Sheng was fourteen. She rushed to An City and retrieved the remains of her father and brothers from the ruins.

At fifteen, keeping it from her mother and sisters-in-law, she secretly went to the border and took up her brothers’ duties.

The current Emperor feared the Shen family and issued an edict ordering her back to the capital.

Shen Sheng fumbled around her waist, then turned her head and saw her dagger lying under the screen. She lifted her foot to go get it, but at that moment, someone grabbed her hand.

That hand was as scalding hot as a winter charcoal fire, so hot that Shen Sheng frowned. But she didn’t push it away. Instead, a strange feeling stirred in her heart.

A sense of inexplicable familiarity.

This time, Shen Sheng opened her eyes wide. The woman’s skin was very fair, her cheeks flushed, the corners of her lips an unusually vivid red.

She felt a strange floaty sensation, as if her feet were stepping on clouds, her heart suddenly pounding fast.

Her dizzy feeling made her blurt out: “Do you know where the Shaoshang acupoint is?”

This remark, even amidst her own intense discomfort, made the woman lift the corners of her lips. She held Shen Sheng’s hand, her fingertip resting on the radial side of Shen Sheng’s thumb tip. “Here.”

Shen Sheng lowered her head, and lowered it again, and again, fixing her eyes on the woman’s hand. She noticed the hand was like solidified lard, soft and creamy, snow-white.

Other than that, she saw nothing of importance.

The more Shen Sheng looked, the more she felt her heart pounding fiercely, her whole body heating up. Probably the after-effects of the alcohol kicking in.

“Are you in pain? I’ll go find someone for you. I still can’t find the Shaoshang acupoint.”

As she finished speaking, she noticed the woman’s eyes were much redder than when she’d entered. She grew a little anxious. “I’ll go get a doctor.”

The woman grasped her hand, not speaking, but her eyes had softened considerably. Her expression was cold as she said: “This is a Gu…”

“Gu poison?” Shen Sheng frowned. “What kind of Gu poison?”

The woman looked at Shen Sheng: “I know the Chancellor Manor’s son broke off your engagement. They said your fate brings death to your father and brothers, using that excuse to annul the engagement and marry a princess instead. You despise men in your heart.”

Shen Sheng’s eyelids twitched twice. She lowered her eyes and stared at the woman. “I don’t like men, but I can’t harm you. Endure it, get through it, and I’ll take you to my home. My mother also likes beautiful girls, she’ll like you.”

But the woman closed her eyes in pain, her throat seeming blocked. A mouthful of blood spilled out, startling Shen Sheng so much that more than half her drunkenness dissipated.

Th-this, this, this really wasn’t an aphrodisiac; it was Gu poison. The blood was even black.

“Were you sick since childhood? Is that why your father forced me to marry you?” Shen Sheng suddenly had an epiphany. It must be that Miss Song was afflicted with a Gu, and that’s why she was forced into this marriage.

After spitting out a mouthful of blood, the woman’s eyes cleared considerably. The Young General Shen before her was letting her imagination run wild again.

She again reached out to touch Shen Sheng, leaning close to her ear. Warm breath surrounded them. Before she could speak, Shen Sheng covered her own ears. “I’ll help you. How to neutralize the Gu?”

The woman released her, closed her eyes briefly: “Take off your clothes.”

Shen Sheng promptly took off the red robe the Song Family had given her.

Outside, the snow was falling even heavier, a vast expanse of white, covering all things between heaven and earth.

Inside the room, for some reason, hot air surged around as if it were spring. There was no charcoal brazier to be seen. That mass of heat seemed to emanate from the woman on the couch.

The hot air tightly enveloped Shen Sheng; she didn’t feel the cold at all. Soft light fell on the other’s exquisite features, while the other’s eyes grew increasingly blurry.

Where was the hot air coming from?

Shen Sheng turned her head to look for the charcoal fire. Intoxication once again mixed with the heat. The temperature of her body gradually rose. She took a few deep breaths, lowering her eyes to look at the woman so close at hand.

She had to admit, Miss Song really didn’t look like she belonged to the same family as her father.