The Dayao Dynasty teeters on the brink of collapse. Shen Qingci, legitimate daughter of a military family, and the Third Prince, Xiao Che, fell in love beneath the lanterns of Chang’an. A jade pendant called “Starlight of the Northern Frontier” bound their love amid the chaos of war. But in the struggle for imperial power, the Shen family was framed and condemned as traitors. She went from a radiant general to a prisoner. After ascending the throne, he imprisoned her in the palace, and misunderstandings tore their love apart like a knife. Poison left her mute; she grew old-haired in the Cold Palace and suffered the loss of her child, her radiance draining away in despair. When the truth behind the frame-up and his hidden plans finally came to light, she shielded their young son from a fatal volley of arrows amid the flames of a palace coup. Her cinnabar-red tears ran dry. All that remained in the imperial capital was him, clutching the broken pendant and gazing north year after year, condemned to a lifetime of regret.
