The Imperial Astronomical Bureau foretold: “In the seventh month, two calamities will be born. One will excel in letters, the other in war. Both are once-in-a-century talents, blessed with an auspicious star. Yet fate has made them lone stars afflicted by evil spirits. In time, they will fulfill Heaven’s mandate, kill their fathers and sovereign, seize the throne, and bring down the kingdom.”
Bearing the prophecy that fate had decreed, Chong Niang, with peerless beauty and dressed as a man, plotted and strategized in the imperial court.
From the Crown Prince’s study companion, she rose all the way to Grand Secretary, single-handedly ushering in a golden age for a dynasty. The person who was always by her side was her classmate, her student, her sovereign, and also her beloved.
Cruel fate kept her from speaking the truth. Even when news of her death in battle reached the great hall, the emperor on the Dragon Throne still did not know that the “young master” he loved so deeply was in fact a woman.
Then the pain of losing the one he loved forever descended upon the once-wise and benevolent ruler, turning him into a cold-blooded, brutal executioner.
Snow fell through the night, and his hair turned white overnight.
Just as he thought he could drag the whole world with him into hell, a letter from the northern border knocked at his heart.
No one else in the world could write a Qian Ting He like that.
The snow that had fallen in his heart for what felt like a lifetime seemed to stop.
