Chapter One: You're Too Pretty to Be Alive
"Whore."
That was the first word Bai Jinli heard upon entering the capital.
Her entrance was not subtle.
Sixteen strong men carried her golden sedan chair. Ten trumpeters led the way, blasting a tune that killed three pigeons mid-air. Twenty-eight stunning male and female attendants followed behind, holding crimson parasols and gold platters overflowing with silver coins. The coins rained down the streets, concussing at least five elderly pedestrians. The rest just fainted from envy.
She had just lifted the curtain—hadn't even stepped out—when a madman shouted from the crowd, voice cracked with fury:
"You're too damn beautiful! Why are you still alive?!"
It was said with the kind of hate reserved for someone who'd killed his entire bloodline.
Bai Jinli turned her head. Slowly. Her face, half in shadow, emerged like a divine painting from heaven—so dazzling it should've been illegal. The crowd fell into silence so deep, you could hear ants gossiping.
She tilted her head like a fox and gave a sultry little smile.
"Huh? Were you insulting me?"
The man across from her was on a black warhorse, gripping a spear, eyes insane like he was trying to prosecute heaven itself.
Ye Wuhen.
The Capital's most unstable war god. Famous for killing thousands and smiling while doing it.
His gaze burned like hellfire. But his voice was colder than steel.
"It wasn't an insult. It was praise. You're absurdly beautiful. You should be worshipped in a temple, not walking around like a commoner. You're a danger to national security."
Bai Jinli scoffed. "I like walking around. I like seducing men. Got a problem?"
Ye Wuhen pulled out his sword instantly. "Try seducing anyone else, I dare you."
She raised an eyebrow. "I already did. So what?"
She turned to her attendants, picked the sluttiest-looking one with the prettiest peach blossom eyes, and crooked a finger at him.
"You, pretty boy. Come give me a shoulder rub."
Ye Wuhen dismounted like an explosion and charged forward, spear in hand, screaming like a banshee on fire:
"BACK. OFF."
The entire street stood in shocked silence.
The capital's deadliest maniac had just been… publicly humiliated. By a woman. On her first day in the city.
But it got worse.
Ye Wuhen dropped to one knee. Looked up at her like she was both his curse and salvation. His terrifyingly gorgeous face twisted into something manic.
"Woman. Marry me."
Bai Jinli didn't flinch. "No. I want to marry ten men."
Ye Wuhen licked the edge of his blade and smiled like the certified lunatic he was.
"Fine. Marry them. I'll kill them. All of them. And bury them with you."
She raised an eyebrow. Smirked lazily. Like she'd just found her mortal enemy and her soulmate in one.
"Well, damn," she purred. "Now you're getting interesting."
This love story didn't start with flowers. It started with a murder threat. Which, for these two, was basically foreplay.