Jin An: The Emperor's Discarded Substitute Consort

In the third year of the Daye era, Emperor Xie Zheng, devastated when his beloved Lin Weiwei fell off a cliff, found Jin An, a palace maid whose face bore a striking resemblance to hers, in the Laundry Bureau. He made her his favored substitute consort, while secretly testing her. A cloud-brocade sash among Lin Weiwei’s belongings was connected to the old case of the Yun family, who had been falsely accused of treason and massacred during the previous emperor’s reign.

Jin An was in fact the last survivor of the Yun family. She patiently played the role of a substitute while secretly investigating her family’s wrongful conviction. She discovered that the regent was the real traitor, and the mastermind behind both the Yun family’s massacre and Lin Weiwei’s death. As they spent their days and nights together, Xie Zheng was drawn to Jin An’s sharpness and resilience, torn between love and guilt. Jin An, too, wavered in her hatred as she witnessed Xie Zheng’s concern for the country.

When the time was right, Jin An took a secret potion to fake her death and escape. She went to the southern frontier, where she rose to prominence under the name “Madam Jin” by applying the art of cloud-brocade weaving, while secretly gathering evidence against the regent. Xie Zheng went undercover to track her down and stumbled upon the truth: Lin Weiwei had been an old ally of the Yun family, and her fall from the cliff years ago had been a ruse to lie low. From their first meeting to becoming his favored consort to faking her death, everything had been part of Jin An’s plan. He himself was the “substitute who had played his role most deeply,” and he had personally handed over the imperial seal that led to the Yun family’s massacre.

After breaking down, Xie Zheng killed the regent to atone for his crimes. He renounced the throne and knelt outside Jin An’s residence for three months, begging forgiveness. In the end, he signed a contract to join her family, changed his name to “Yun Zheng,” and spent the rest of his life making amends to Jin An and the Yun family. Their relationship began with a conspiracy, but ended with the emperor surrendering himself completely and earning the sincere acceptance of the woman who had held all the pieces.