She is a decisive general who commands the battlefield on the frontier, but back in Chang'an she must navigate the intrigues behind the curtains. She is a princess who can turn the court on its head, but after marrying she discovers that the person beside her in bed is hiding a tremendous secret.
On their wedding night, half a cup of nuptial wine spills. The wine Xiao Hansheng lets slip is a sign of fear that her identity will be exposed. The hand Li Rongyang offers is both a test and the first move in a game of chess.
Political enemies surround them, and the regional powers are stirring. The blades flashing in court are no less deadly than those on the frontier. They must fend off foreign threats, contend with powerful ministers, and face each other's sharp edges. This marriage was a scheme from the beginning. But neither player expected to lose her heart in the end.
When Xiao Hansheng's binding finally comes undone, and Li Rongyang stops merely playing chess and willingly takes her hand, all those tests, clashes, and suspicions slowly melt into sharing a pot of tea by the winter hearth, fingertips adjusting each other's clothes beneath the lamplight at midnight, and the unspoken understanding of standing back-to-back to deflect arrows amid the snowstorms of Yinshan.
