★ She keeps the fires of the Pei household burning, selling bean curd and sending letters home, waiting for him in the morning mist; he fights in the wind and snow of the frontier, keeping every one of her letters close to his chest. A gentle shopkeeper and an untamed great general—a quiet, healing story of two people saving each other.
★ "You want to marry? I'm far better than that scholar—try me." The jade-faced Lord of Death is gentle only to her; beneath his fearsome name lies a devotion to protecting her for life.
★ The book unfolds in the heroine's first-person voice, a marriage-then-love story that builds layer by layer, with fine prose and lingering feeling, making it a benchmark of Zhihu's Yanxuan short historical romance genre.
★ This is the signature short historical romance of Mi Hua, a leading Zhihu Yanyan Stories writer: 190,000 upvotes, more than 16,000 comments, and over a million readers returning to it on Zhihu, selected for the Zhihu Yanyan Stories Short-Story Influence Ranking. Mi Hua is an exclusive Zhihu Yanyan Stories writer, a Top 10 author of the first Short-Story Influence Ranking, and Zhihu's 2023 New Knowledge Creator, called by readers "Mi Hua's work, always a gem."

The day I married into the Pei family, the eldest son was gravely ill, and it was the second son, Pei Yi, who bowed at the altar in his brother's place. The second son of the Pei family had joined the army young and carried a fearsome name—the jade-faced Lord of Death whom all men feared.

Three days later, the red candles gave way to white funeral banners. Pei Yi handed me a letter releasing me from the marriage, and rode off to the frontier. I could have left, but, as if moved by some impulse, I gently folded the paper: "Second Brother, let me keep this house for you for now."

From then on, he fought for the realm in the beacon fires of the frontier, while I made a living in the morning mist of the market town.

Six years later, the gentle, refined Scholar Chen came to propose marriage. I was still hesitating when Pei Yi returned suddenly, carrying the biting wind and snow of the northern frontier. His eyes were red, his breath hot: "You want to marry someone else... did you ask me first?"

Mi Hua
With nearly 30 works to her name, her style is distinctive and delicate, spanning urban romance, historical romance, and fantasy. In 2023 she was honored as Zhihu's "New Knowledge Creator" and named a Top 10 author of the first Short-Story Influence Ranking. Her representative works include "Yidu: A Record of Strange Demons," "The Fish-Lantern Guide to Souls," "Tangmu Still," "The Crow's Bell," and "Lang Huai You Yu." Drawing inspiration from the "Shan Hai Jing," she has built a distinctive world of strange tales and earned the reputation among readers of "Mi Hua's work, always a gem." "Yidu: A Record of Strange Demons" is published in print, its radio-drama adaptation is airing, and its film and TV rights have been sold. "The Fish-Lantern Guide to Souls" has sold both its film-and-TV rights and publication rights, and an audio-drama adaptation is now streaming.

Chapter 1 The Widowed Sister-in-Law Keeps House
Chapter 2 A Letter from Home Is Worth a Thousand in Gold
Chapter 3 Flutter
Chapter 4 The Bond
Chapter 5 Just You Wait
Chapter 6 Alone to the Capital
Chapter 7 Escape from the Tiger's Jaws
Chapter 8 Flowers at Their Best
Side Story: Wishes Come True (The Pei Yi Chapter)
Side Story: Peach Red, Willow Green (The Xiao Tao Chapter)