The Great Zhou Emperor's Most Cherished Darling

In the 372nd year of the Great Zhou, amid the incense smoke of the imperial ancestral temple, a child destined to reshape the dynasty's fate was born: Jun Yehao. He was extraordinary from birth. At three, he could recite the Book of Rites; at five, he could debate the classics with the Grand Tutor. His obsidian-black eyes held none of a child's playfulness, only a calmness and sharpness far beyond his years, as if he had been born bearing the weight of the realm.

He was granted a prince's title at ten, a coronation of the royal family's genius and a sign of the court's hopes for the future. He ascended the throne at fifteen, taking on the burden of a realm in crisis and beginning to rule with an iron fist. At nineteen, he dominated the world, fulfilling a young emperor's ambition and earning the honor of having every nation pay tribute. From then on, the name Jun Yehao was more than the title of the Great Zhou emperor. It became the emblem of an era, etched into the hearts of the Great Zhou people and into the annals of every tributary nation.

Jiang Ye was a prince of the northern Liang Kingdom, but he had lived in the shadow of the royal family since childhood. His mother was of humble birth and died young. Amid the harem's crowds of princes, he was like a speck of dust no one cared to notice. His father's gaze always fell on the legitimate heir, the crown prince, and the valiant second prince.

His fortunes began to change when the northern Liang Kingdom sought peace with the Great Zhou. When the decree for a political marriage named him, no one at court was surprised. An unfavored prince was the perfect bargaining chip for peace.

The discarded son of the northern Liang Kingdom, whom even his own father had barely spared a glance, eventually blossomed into a dazzling figure on foreign soil, thanks to his own ingenuity and Jun Yehao's trust.

That was when the story of Jun Yehao and Jiang Ye truly began.