On the night her kingdom fell, the ministers of the court knelt in surrender. Jiang Zhao, the former dynasty's eldest princess, dressed in mourning clothes, walked out of the palace alone. She did not flee, weep, or beg for her life. Instead, she struck a deal in front of the enemy commander, Xiao Xuanli, the regent who had killed her father: slaughter the four hundred thousand people of the capital, and all you'll get is an empty city. Spare me, and I'll make the former subjects truly submit to you. Her would-be killer did not strike. He kept her instead, as a symbol to pacify the people and a hostage to use or discard at will.
But Jiang Zhao has a pair of eyes no one knows about. A light shines above the heads of those loyal to her, while it goes out above those who hate her. She can see through every loyalist and traitor in the camp at a glance. Only the light above Xiao Xuanli's head flickers between bright and dim. For five years, she has never once understood it. She uses his influence to establish herself in enemy territory, calming refugees, cutting off grain merchants, and secretly making contact with former officials. One by one, lights shine above their heads. Again and again, he happens to come to her rescue when she is cornered. Again and again, she tells herself it is nothing more than mutual exploitation.
Until she retakes her first city and raises the banner of restoration, with the two armies facing each other. He destroyed her kingdom, and he also protects her cause. What burns within that half-extinguished light: hatred, or something else she has never dared to acknowledge?
This novel and its characters are entirely fictional. Any resemblance is purely coincidental. Do not imitate.
