"If I help you get revenge, what will you give me in return?"
Deep within the palace, the Third Prince, Xiao Jingheng, gave a faint, knowing smile.
Shen Qingci raised her eyes. "My intelligence, my loyalty, and a promise..."
"If one day you become a wise ruler, I'll devote myself to serving you. If you become a tyrant... I'll be the first to rebel against you."
He laughed aloud. "Good. That's the kind of person worthy of standing at my side."
"If I had been the one to meet you first..."
On a snowy night as they parted, the upright censor Ji Linyuan had feelings in his eyes that he never voiced.
After a long silence, she said, "There are no 'ifs' in this world. But you'll always be the bright moon in my heart."
He smiled and bowed. "Your subject respectfully wishes His Majesty and the Empress a life of shared glory, like the sun and moon."
As he turned away, tears fell onto the snow.
From discarded concubine in the Cold Palace to founding empress.
From a blood feud to a blueprint for a flourishing age.
Shen Qingci had never wanted revenge alone.
She wanted to carve out a path for all the women of the realm, one where they need not depend on anyone else,
to win justice for the souls of the wronged,
to stand beside the one she loved, not behind him,
and to usher in an age where the sun and moon truly shone together.
