Fifth Prince Xuan Chang'an looks so much like his mother, Consort Hua, who was frail and died in childbirth, that Emperor Xuan has kept him at a distance. Years before he was old enough to establish his own princely residence, he was moved out of the palace and has lived there ever since. After her mother's illness and death caused her temperament to change drastically, the noblewoman Cui Zhiyi moved to Jiangdu to study under an old sage. On her way back to the capital, having learned medicine, she encounters Xuan Chang'an, who has been targeted by assassins. The court was already unstable, and the Crown Prince's death only heightened the turmoil. Though the two seemed to have nothing to do with each other, a series of chance encounters brings them to recognize their feelings and understand what true duty to their country means.
[Alternate Universe]+ [Coming of Age]+ [Sweet and Angsty]+ [Everyone Gets a Bad Ending]+ [Ensemble Cast]
Cui Zhiyi: I agreed to trade a marriage promise for this. “Today, before the ancestral tablets, I swear by heaven and earth: I, Cui Zhiyi, will wear a phoenix crown and red wedding robes in this life only for Fifth Prince Xuan Chang'an. In life and death, I pledge myself to you. If I break this oath, may I die a terrible death.”
Xuan Chang'an, do you know? Two people who love each other too much are never destined to grow old together.
People should never covet what was never theirs, or fail to see where they belong. Greed always brings its own consequences.
Xuan Chang'an: Yingying, I have never schemed against you. Not once.
Second Prince: With a mother like that, so malicious and treating human lives like grass, Changwu has no face to remain in the palace or meddle in court affairs.
Wei Mingshu: Grandfather, in the end, I still failed to honor your request. Looking back, I've always lived by the rules, but this time I want to make my own choice.
Consort De: I consoled myself by saying that men have always been fickle, and all the more so in the imperial household.
Consort Liang: I told you to hide your talents and keep them from the public because I hoped you could live more freely.
