The year Chang'an saw its first snow, Ouyang Miao still believed Shangguan Ling's vow beneath the peach tree: “One heart, one lifetime.” They were childhood sweethearts envied by everyone in the capital. She was a general's legitimate daughter, radiant as the sun; he was a marquis's son, gentle as jade. She cooked for him, turned down countless marriage proposals for his sake, and dreamed of nothing but marrying him.
But after his coming-of-age ceremony, Shangguan Ling's drunken words pierced every one of her illusions like an ice-coated dagger. “Miaomiao, it's perfectly normal for a man to have three wives and four concubines. When you become the principal wife, you must learn to be tolerant.” He sounded so matter-of-fact, as though this were only natural.
Ouyang Miao looked at the familiar yet unfamiliar man before her and suddenly laughed. So more than a decade of affection couldn't overcome the sense of entitlement in his bones. She put aside all her infatuation and turned toward the palace.
At the imperial selection, she wore plain clothes, yet stunned the emperor with a single declaration: “I won't be a concubine. I will be the only one.” The young emperor raised an eyebrow. “If I offer you the empress's throne, will you dare to take it?”
Ouyang Miao lifted her gaze, determination in her eyes as if she had burned her bridges. “I dare.”
From Noble Consort Miao to empress, she makes every move carefully, shedding her innocence and honing her edge. When she dons her phoenix robes and receives the court officials' homage, she spots Shangguan Ling in the crowd. He did, in the end, marry three wives and take four concubines, but when he sees her in her empress's finery, his eyes fill with regret.
But so what?
She is no longer the young girl who revolved around him. Her childhood sweetheart died on that first-snow day. Now she is the empress of the Great Yin Dynasty, the person the emperor holds dearest.
