"Unacceptable," Lan Qiren fumes as he spreads the hand-painted cards out to display the tiny arrays hidden in them - the feathers on the crane, the lines on the willow-leaves, the decorations under the scrolls, the stripes on the boar, every single card has its own array for protection or repelling evil worked into the art. Individually, the arrays are weak, but they are designed to resonate with each other, work together instead of interfering with each other, and so the deck as a whole is a surprisingly powerful protection; an unorthodox one, using unknown arrays, and so Lan Wangji is not in the least surprised when his uncle sends him to find and castigate the artist who created these cards.

The artist proves to be a beautiful young man with laughing silver eyes, and instead of scolding him for creating and selling these new arrays Lan Wangji finds himself listening in fascination as the artist explains them, both unknowingly building the foundation of their relationship in this first meeting.