Everyone says the deep palace is rife with power struggles, and love is always a tool of ambition.
But I refuse to believe it.
If I offer someone my whole heart from a young age, might they give theirs to me alone?
I am Shen Zhuangming, the least favored of Great Yan’s thirteen princes.
My mother was of humble birth. I grew up in the countryside, and after entering the palace, she was abandoned in the Cold Palace to fend for herself.
I thought I would spend my whole life growing old alone in that desolate corner.
Until the year I turned seventeen, when she came striding into my world, lifting the hem of her skirt.
At first, I thought she was just another palace maid forced to come and humor me.
But she looked up at me, smiled softly, and asked a question I would remember for the rest of my life:
“Want a pastry?”
There was no scheming, no currying favor, no palace intrigue.
She simply came to me, the one no one cared about, with an open and honest heart.
From then on, the Cold Palace had the warmth of home, and the lonely boy had somewhere to belong.
Across this vast inner palace, imperial power reigns supreme.
I want no realm. I want only her.
I fight for the throne only so I can give her
a home where no one would dare hurt her, and where she can live in peace for the rest of her life.
[Historical Romance + Pure Love + Mutual Devotion + Palace Romance + Sweet and Doting Love + Mutual Healing + Battle for the Throne]
