Denghuangtai

In the year Pei Qingyan came of age—the sixteenth year of the Jianyuan era—the emperor ordered a second northern expedition, sending Pei Qingyan's father, Pei Xuan, and Yun Zheng's father, Yun Heng, to lead the campaign. Unexpectedly, Yun Heng was killed in battle. When the news reached the capital, Yun Heng's sister, Empress Yun, was devastated. However, she soon learned that Yun Heng had not died in battle, but rather that Pei Qingyan's father, Pei Xuan, had "failed to come to his aid," thus creating a deep-seated enmity between the Yun and Pei families. Because of their fathers' actions, Pei Qingyan and Yun Zheng were forced to stand on opposite sides.

Not long after, news came from the front lines that Pei Xuan had gone missing, plunging the front into crisis. Pei Qingyan was anxious to find her father and went to the palace to request permission to lead 5,000 cavalry to the north to provide support. She then defeated the enemy army at Yanran Mountain, and father and daughter were reunited.

Pei Qingyan learned that her father had tentatively inquired about the rumors circulating in the capital, but Pei Xuan refused to defend himself or allow Pei Qingyan to investigate further. Sensing something amiss, Pei Qingyan secretly investigated and, after careful discernment, discovered that Yun Zheng's father was not dead, but captured by the Xiongnu. The Xiongnu threatened to exchange ten cities for the emperor's brother-in-law. Pei Xuan reported this to the emperor, but unexpectedly, the emperor refused to cede the cities or allow Pei Xuan to lead troops to rescue him. The emperor feared such a revelation would damage the royal family's reputation, so he publicly stated that Yun Heng had died in battle, thus preserving the Yun family's dignity. However, rumors suddenly spread in the capital that Pei Xuan's refusal to come to Yun Heng's aid had led to his death. Pei Xuan, loyal to the emperor, refused to prove his innocence, thus incurring the Yun family's resentment.

Upon learning the truth, Pei Qingyan was at a loss for how to face it. Just then, the Battle of Yanran Mountain made Pei Qingyan famous, and she repeatedly achieved great feats during the subsequent Northern Expedition. A year later, the army returned to the capital in triumph, and Pei Qingyan was enfeoffed as the Marquis of Yin'an, becoming one of the few female marquises in the court. Therefore, she used the excuse that the court lacked generals to guard the borders, and volunteered to be stationed there, remaining in the newly built Shuofang City to guard the frontier.

In the spring of the twenty-first year of the Jianyuan era, Grand Marshal Changping Marquis suddenly died. In May of the same year, his eldest son, Yichun Marquis Pei Kang, who was stationed in the southwest, was killed in battle. Pei Qingyan, receiving news of his father and brother's deaths in the north, suspected foul play and wanted to go to the capital to investigate. However, as a general in the field, he was not allowed to enter the capital without being summoned. Just as he was at a loss, the imperial grain transport official arrived in the north with this year's military pay. Upon receiving it, Pei Qingyan discovered that the pay was significantly less than in previous years; in previous years, it was only 80% of the original amount, but this year it was less than 50%. Pei Qingyan remained calm and first determined that the grain transport official had deliberately lied about losses, implicating him in embezzlement. Pei Qingyan then deliberately caused the grain transport official to die in the military camp, causing a stir in the court and among the people. The emperor sent men to arrest her and bring her back to the capital.

Pei Qingyan feigned surrender, but secretly sent people to the capital to investigate the case in advance. With the secret assistance of the Princess, they investigated the officials in charge of interrogating Pei Qingyan (the Grand Minister of Works and the Court of Justice) in advance, and found their incriminating evidence in the court. She planned to use these things to threaten these people, so that they would have no choice but to help her find the real culprit who embezzled military funds and help her clear her name.

But to her surprise, the first person to appear before her was the male lead, Yun Zheng. At this time, Yun Zheng had become the Minister of the Imperial Secretariat, a favorite of the emperor. Yun Zheng's appearance was unexpected for Pei Qingyan, but she immediately thought of a new plan.

At the beginning of the year, I heard that Yun Zheng's grandmother, Old Madam Dou, had contracted an extremely rare disease that required a plant/animal that grew on the northern grasslands (I haven't figured out what it is yet, I'll check the information later). Because Old Madam Dou had been particularly kind to Pei Qingyan in the past, treating her like her own granddaughter, Pei Qingyan, upon learning of Old Madam Dou's illness, disregarded the Xiongnu in the northern grasslands, ventured deep behind enemy lines, and spent a great deal of effort and several months to finally obtain it at the cost of her life. However, in order to save her life, the military doctor gave her this thing, but for this reason, Pei Qingyan's blood also had the same effect.

Yun Zheng happened to be in charge of her case and was originally going to bring her to justice. However, Pei Qingyan used this life-saving medicinal ingredient, forcing him to cooperate with Pei Qingyan to clear her name and find the real culprit. Yun Zheng was furious, feeling that since Old Madam Dou had been so good to Pei Qingyan, Pei Qingyan could actually use the old lady's safety as a bargaining chip (Yun Zheng felt that Pei Qingyan had deliberately taken the medicinal ingredient).

Although Yun Zheng was furious, he had to compromise for his grandmother's sake.

Working together, the two uncovered the truth within three days, arresting all those who had embezzled military funds (the Grand Minister of Agriculture and his subordinates, the grain transport officials), and Pei Qingyan was released from prison. When Empress Yun learned of this, she was furious and summoned Yun Zheng to the palace.

Because Yun Zheng and Pei Qingyan grew up together and had a deep bond, Empress Yun was always worried that Yun Zheng would show leniency towards the Pei family because of Pei Qingyan. Therefore, over the years, she not only plotted to deepen the misunderstanding between Pei Qingyan and Yun Zheng, but also kept a close watch on Yun Zheng. Whenever she discovered that Yun Zheng showed any signs of missing Pei Qingyan, she would punish Yun Zheng with a whip, ostensibly to make Yun Zheng remember the hatred.

This time, upon learning that Yun Zheng had cleared Pei Qingyan's name, Empress Yun, without any further explanation, ordered Yun Zheng to be beaten. Only after the beating did she order the kneeling Yun Zheng to explain. Upon learning that it was because Pei Qingyan possessed the medicine to save Old Madam Dou, Empress Yun's anger subsided slightly. She then ordered Yun Zheng to find a way to kill Pei Qingyan after the Old Madam was gone, to avenge his father, and demanded that Yun Zheng swear an oath in agreement.

After Yun Zheng was forced to swear an oath in his father's name, Empress Yun sent him to a side hall for a medicinal bath to heal his injuries. Over the years, Yun Zheng endured repeated beatings and treatments from Empress Yun. (This part intends to touch upon Yun Zheng's inner thoughts, subtly revealing his suicidal tendencies.)