Loyal To The Crown Addicted To Her

The throne of the Southern Kingdom goes to Nangong Sheng because he is the legitimate son. He is not capable of much else and does not need to be, since the border general Chu Yuan stands behind him. Chu Yuan took command of a hundred thousand men at sixteen, swore loyalty to the throne and the country, and swore he would never marry. Nangong Yao is the Princess Royal, and she watched her mother die when she was small. She grew up inside the palace holding that nobody can be trusted, and she goes after the throne with hard methods. On a hunt she surrounds Nangong Sheng and moves to kill him. Chu Yuan lets himself be taken prisoner and humiliated to keep it from turning into a war between the two states. That is the first time he and Nangong Yao meet, and something comes of it that neither of them planned. She treats his loyalty as a piece to be played, using aphrodisiacs and the offer of power to get him to turn on his master. He does not turn, and his reason for it, that he is there to protect ordinary people, is what reaches her. Nangong Sheng is meanwhile dealing with agents out of Qi, and he frames Chu Yuan more than once and moves against him.