Summary
Everyone in ten villages knows Cui Ning has no temper at all – which is exactly why her parents sold her into the palace for fifty silver ingots. By day she reads dusty histories aloud to an emperor who has butchered his own court and cannot sleep. By night a masked general called Lu Ming climbs over her wall, swears he will rebel, seize the throne, and make her his empress, and will not take no for an answer. Ningning wants only to survive, save her reward money, and slip away when the city falls. Then one rainy night she pins the masked intruder to her bed and discovers whose face has been hiding behind that mask all along.