The moment Princess Yunzhao (云昭郡主) draws her last breath, Xie Jiayu (谢嘉鱼) loses more than a mother. She loses the one person who always favored her over her own father. He openly questions why she survived instead of the princess. In a single night, her entire family vanishes, leaving only Xiao Wuyi (萧无衣). He is the only one she can physically turn to.
Yet this man is also her prime suspect. She has lived with him long enough to know his habits, but not his heart. Trust is a foreign concept now. She clings to logic because emotion is too dangerous. Each rational thought screams that he is guilty, but her dreams whisper a different name. The deeper her suspicion grows, the more she aches. And that ache reveals a buried truth she will not admit: love and hate are tangled so tightly that pulling one thread unravels the other. Her mind has built a fortress against him, but her heart keeps handing him the key.
One Dream, One Name
Xie Jiayu shouts “Xiao Wuyi” in her sleep. It is not a cry of accusation. It is a plea. When he hears it, he is stunned. He asks her, “Do you know who you are calling?” In that hazy moment between dreaming and waking, she knows. She knows exactly who she needs. All her defenses drop. Her hatred, her suspicion, her carefully constructed case against him—gone. She lets herself lean on him fully. It feels natural. It feels like coming home.
But dawn breaks, and so does the spell. Her mother’s face appears in her mind. Justice demands a price. How can she love the man who might have taken her mother from her? Betraying her mother’s memory for love would be unforgivable. So she ices over again. She pulls the armor back on. Yet the dream lingers. The name she called out in her sleep was not a slip of the tongue. It was an arrow straight from her core. The subconscious never lies. It just reveals what the conscious mind cannot bear to look at. She refused to see it before, but the truth is now inescapable. Her feelings for him are far from neutral. They are consuming.
Small Gestures, Big Reveals
She lies to Xiao Wuyi after meeting with Li Mao. She says she was gathering information about Le Jun. The lie is clumsy. But what matters is not the lie itself. What matters is the instinct to explain at all. She does not owe him an explanation. Their relationship is supposed to be adversarial. Yet she gives one anyway. She wants to avoid his misunderstanding. This is not a calculated move. It is pure instinct. The same instinct surfaces when she wants a private space to mourn her mother. She tells him her plan. He replies that she can do whatever she wants in her own home. But she keeps explaining. She wants him to understand her heart, even if she cannot voice it clearly.
These are not the actions of a woman in a cold, strategic alliance. They are the actions of someone deeply invested. She cares about his opinion. She worries about his suspicions. She yearns for his understanding. Xiao Wuyi sees these cracks in her armor immediately. He notices every hesitation, every sideways glance. For someone who has lived with three wives showing him no real affection, her clumsy explanations are a goldmine. She is trying so hard to appear indifferent, yet every gesture gives her away. She brings him updates, she clarifies her whereabouts, she seeks his permission. She is acting like a wife who wants to please her husband, not a victim plotting against her captor.
The Mystery Behind His Matchmaking
Here is the puzzle that stumps 90% of the audience. If Xiao Wuyi has feelings for Xie Jiayu, why does he actively connect her with Li Mao? It seems counterintuitive. It looks like he is testing her. Some think he is trying to trap her. But look closer. Xiao Wuyi does not play small games. If he wanted to control her through jealousy or fear, he would handle it directly. He is not a man who shares what he values. So why this?
He wants her genuine heart. He knows she is hiding from her own desires. She needs a catalyst to see clearly. By introducing Li Mao (李茂), Xiao Wuyi forces a choice. He gives her a path away from him. If she takes it, she was never truly his. If she stays, her choice is real. He is playing the long game. He does not want her obedience. He wants her to look at him, out of all the men in the world, and willingly choose him. It is not about being generous. It is about being certain. He has seen her defiance, her intelligence, and her fierce loyalty to her mother. He wants that same fire turned toward him. To earn it, he must let her believe she has freedom. So he hands her the rope, and silently waits to see if she uses it to walk away—or to tie herself to him permanently.
