Lin Wanyi, daughter of a Hanlin scholar, and the young general Shen Yi grew up together. Before Shen Yi left on an expedition to the northern frontier, he promised her that the day he returned victorious would be the day he came to marry her.
But then terrible news came from the front: Xie Heng’s forces had ventured deep into Xiongnu territory and gone completely missing…
Heartbroken, Lin Wanyi risked everything to cross the border and search for him.
Fate proved as unpredictable as the shifting sands beyond the frontier.
Captured by bandits, she was sold into slavery and struggled to survive in the Xiongnu royal court.
When an accident exposed that she was a woman, she unexpectedly found a way to stay alive because she bore a striking resemblance to Xiao He’s late Han Chinese mother, the Right Worthy King’s consort. But Xiao He gradually drew her into a dangerous whirlpool.
Her entanglement with Xiao He left her honor stained and filled her with deep hatred.
Shen Yi led an army in a surprise attack on the royal court to find Lin Wanyi, his iron-clad troops smashing open the cage in which she was trapped.
She ran toward her lover, reborn through blood and fire. But before the joy of their reunion could fade, turmoil erupted once more in the Golden Hall of the capital.
With the burdens of their country and family weighing on them, and their hearts torn by national and personal vendettas, where could they go from here?
Jade shattered at the pass, and the wild geese never returned.
Snow covered the grave mound, a monument over buried bones.
The paired-heart pendant lay cold in the fading light.
May we never be born beneath an emperor’s curtain in the next life.
