She is the brightest jewel of the Great Ming and the sharpest sword in the dark.
Shen Mingzhao was personally tutored by the Retired Emperor and treasured by the Empress Dowager. At five, she risked her life for her younger brother; by fifteen, she was already playing the court like a chessboard. Born into the greatest love the world could offer, she nevertheless chose to shoulder the fate of her family and country. The world saw only the dazzling Radiant Sun Princess. Only one young man had ever seen her clearest smile beneath the flowering pear trees in the depths of the palace.
He is the most brilliant jade of the Jing'an Marquis's household and the loneliest snow in Daliang.
Xiao Chen was born to privilege and excelled in both letters and arms. Childhood friends with the princess, they fell in love, and a lifetime of glory seemed within reach. Then a foreign emblem among his mother's belongings shattered the tender illusion: his birth mother had not died of illness. She had been a princess of Daliang, and had perished in a conspiracy. His beloved father had given his heart to another, while his gentle stepmother concealed a sharp edge. As the truth swept in, carrying the weight of national hatred and family vengeance, he could only sever every tie to his past with a staged death.
From then on, mountains and rivers became the board, love and hate the pieces.
She maneuvered through the Great Ming court, growing from a deeply cherished princess into a pillar of the empire who commanded the tides of power. He rose again in blood along Daliang’s border, transforming from a fallen heir into the “Prince Zhao'an,” a man who made both nations tremble.
When they meet again, he is the enemy’s commander and she is the shield of the Great Ming. The vow they made beneath the pear trees of Tangli Garden still rings in their ears, but now the flames of war burn their eyes. Will they cut the bonds of love with their swords, or join hands to unravel the plot?
When a deeper conspiracy comes to light, and the fate of countless lives hangs in the balance alongside their personal loves and hatreds, can they rebuild an alliance on the ruins of trust, one stronger than love?
