He is the sharpest blade in the imperial city, and the most forbidden transgression in His Highness’s eyes.
Lin Shen, a renowned master swordsman, enters the palace under an assumed name to repay a debt of gratitude. He becomes the silent shadow guard at the side of the Ninth Prince, Xiao Jingyan.
He thinks all he has to do in this life is be an obedient blade: protect his master, kill, and then die quietly in some forgotten corner.
Until one rainy night, the noble prince pins him in a shadowed corner against the palace wall, his warm breath burning Lin Shen’s ears red.
“Lin Shen, your sword keeps me safe... but who’s going to keep you safe?”
Born to be the favored child of heaven, Xiao Jingyan is nonetheless trapped in the deadly intrigues of the inner palace, forced to tread carefully at every turn.
He needs the sharpest pawn, but unexpectedly finds a handful of snow that refuses to melt.
He teaches Lin Shen political cunning, but Lin Shen only wants to teach him how to fall in love.
“Your Highness, there must be a distinction between ruler and subject.”
“What if I insist there be ‘no distinction’?”
At court, they are lord and blade, joining forces to crush the rebels and foil conspiracies.
Within the palace, Lin Shen is the only warmth Xiao Jingyan allows near him, the one refuge where he can let down every defense in the dead of night.
When old enemies from the martial world come seeking revenge, the struggle for imperial power reaches its boiling point, and Lin Shen’s former identity as a shadow guard is exposed, bringing a deadly manhunt down upon him, Xiao Jingyan tears up their treaty in open court, raises his sword toward the throne, and asks the assembled officials with a laugh:
“If this empire and its rules are going to hurt him, then I, the emperor, will change them both.”
[One-line summary]
I would bow before you as your subject, and I would dare overturn heaven and earth for you.
[Key highlights]
· Irresistible pairing: a cold, desireless shadow guard who’s the pinnacle of martial prowess × a seemingly gentle prince who’s actually possessive and unhinged
