Eternal Peace by Her Side

To be precise, Jiang Xuening was reborn three times.

In her first life, she married Shen Jie and eventually became empress. Because Zhang Zhe's faction stood against hers, she toyed with him at every turn. But Zhang Zhe never fought back, remaining respectful and courteous. Gradually, he fell for her. He knew Jiang Xuening was the empress and that he should not feel this way. But no one knows where love begins, only that once it takes root, it runs deep. To help Jiang Xuening's followers escape punishment, he, a man who had always upheld justice, forged evidence and covered up their crimes for the first time. When the truth came out, he sentenced himself to death and was imprisoned. His mother heard the news and assumed he had been framed. She ran from place to place seeking justice, but in the end, she died on a snowy night. When Zhang Zhe found out, he was consumed by grief. He hated himself for failing to serve as an upright official. He had depended on his widowed mother since childhood, yet she had died because of him. He had even betrayed her dearest wish for him to serve as an honest official. He hated himself for causing her death and breaking his promise to her, and wanted nothing but to die. Jiang Xuening had long since fallen for him, too. Seeing that she had brought him to this, she gave her life in exchange for his.

In her second life, she chose not to become empress. But because of the rebels, even though his imprisonment was only a ruse, his mother believed he had been framed and once again ran from place to place pleading his case. She still died on a snowy night. Jiang Xuening feared he would blame himself again and, like in his previous life, seek only death. So she could only make him hate her. Only if he hated her would he not grow weary of life and die.

In her third life, there was still time to change everything. The first thing she did after returning was make sure his mother was settled. Then she still chose to go to prison and accompany him. Even if it meant death, she would not be parted from him again.