A Frail Body, A Stunning Beauty

Shen Jinghong, the legitimate daughter of the Langya Shen clan, is so frail she seems near death. In Shangdu, everyone avoids her as a harbinger of disaster, yet behind the chessboard she is a master strategist who watches the game with cool detachment. With her family trapped in a deadly predicament by the new emperor’s suspicion, she offers herself as a chess piece and asks to marry Gu Yanzhi, the Zhenbei Marquis feared by everyone in Shangdu as a mad dog, hoping to win a chance of survival in the treacherous court.

She manipulates people’s hearts and plans every move, treating this political marriage as a transaction. But she never expects that the arrogant, reckless, quick-tempered piece in her eyes is actually a lovestruck young man who has secretly cherished her for three years. He sees her schemes as a gift from heaven and mistakes her distance for shyness. His fierce devotion throws her frozen heart into turmoil.

What happens when a cool, ruthless schemer meets a love-struck fool with a heart like fire? When a player who uses herself as bait is fiercely protected by her “piece”? The marriage that began as a calculated move slowly strays from its intended path. She meant to wield power and play the court like a chessboard, with the realm as her bride-price and its people as her cause. In the end, she is held fast by one man’s sincere love, and together they write a legend of power over all under heaven and a romance sweet enough to make everyone swoon.