When Spring Doesn't Come: Part Two

[A ruthless, decisive, rational, and quick-witted heroine x a suspicious, sinister, cold-hearted, and unfeeling hero]

[Jiang Xiuying x Chen Zhui]

Chen Zhui, Prince of Pingyang, was aloof and solitary from childhood. Jiang Xiuying, the daughter of a female slave, was the only glimmer of light in his bleak life.

Two people crushed by fate made a pact in blood, becoming each other's sole support in the confines of the imperial palace.

A coming-of-age ceremony and a corpse exposed the filthy secrets beneath Luoyang's glittering surface, igniting a wildfire of war that would consume the throne. The realm was in turmoil, the emperor was gravely ill, eunuchs seized power, and noble clans fought for dominance.

Five years later, Chen Zhui clawed his way back from a mountain of corpses. The reclusive prince of the past had become a fearsome wolf on the frontier. Jiang Xiuying, too, donned armor, and the two gazed at each other from afar across the beacon fires atop the city walls.

Reunited in Bingzhou, Jiang Xiuying made her moves on the board while Chen Zhui wagered his life. The two wild beasts tested one another and tore at each other, caught between schemes and sincere feelings.

Beneath this deadly game of chess, who would be the final pawn sacrificed?

“Anyone who comes for us with a blade will die by our blades.”

(For space reasons, the story set five years later is in the next volume. Please visit my profile for the story set five years earlier. I'm deeply sorry for the inconvenience T T)