Li Shihuan, whose childhood name was Zhuozhuo, was the daughter of Li Zhonghua, Prince of Jin of the Yun Kingdom. She was the noble and cherished Princess Ronghua, whose rank was equal to a princess’s. Sadly, the Imperial Preceptor predicted she would not live past the prime of her youth, at sixteen. Truly, the heavens were jealous of her beauty.
Who would have thought that things would take a turn when Emperor Qiao Junyan of the neighboring Xia Kingdom sought her hand in marriage, offering her the position of empress? The Imperial Preceptors of both kingdoms predicted that they were made for each other. Qiao Junyan, the second emperor of Xia, had ascended the throne at eighteen. This favored son of Heaven had been given a terrible fate by the Imperial Preceptor: a solitary star destined to bring calamity.
At twenty-three, he visited Yun as an envoy and came away with a sweet little empress. From then on, everything went smoothly, and he lived a happy, harmonious life.
When Qiao Junyan, whose courtesy name was Qihua, first met his little empress, he thought women were such a nuisance. Being a solitary star destined to bring calamity was a fine fate indeed. But this little ball of glutinous rice was even worse off than he was. At least his fate brought misfortune to others, while hers brought misfortune to herself. He wondered what terrible sins she had committed in a past life.
When Zhuozhuo first met Qiao Junyan, she thought: So this is the Xia emperor who’s a solitary star destined to bring calamity? He’s so handsome, but he looks so fierce. They say he’s a calamity-bringing star. If they got together, would she fail to live past sixteen after all? The Imperial Preceptor had predicted that she wouldn’t.
The people of Yun believed in the Imperial Preceptor. Every emperor was chosen by the Imperial Preceptor, whose authority was unshakable. Later, the Imperial Preceptors of both kingdoms predicted that the two were made for each other. The Yun royal family sent their precious darling to Xia, as though cutting out their own heart, in the hope that she would live a long life.
They didn’t expect the Xia emperor to cherish Zhuozhuo as much as they did. They only hoped he wouldn’t harm her.
