A Joyless Smile

Commoner Xie An is forced by Marquis Wu'an to swallow a deadly poison and impersonate the marquis's second son, marrying into the capital as a disposable pawn. On his wedding night, assassins strike, and he is secretly given an incurable poison. At death's door, he awakens his mother's secret Nanyue technique, merging with the frozen heart qi of a sixty-year-old fallen kingdom's sorcerer, turning poison into strength. With a false identity, dual poisons, imperial power struggles, feudal lords, and blood feuds, he rises from the bottom, unraveling conspiracies and uncovering his Nanyue heritage. He fights to survive, to avenge, and to become his own master in this chaotic world.