She is the most dazzling Princess Zhaohua of the Great Sheng Dynasty, renowned for her military achievements and showered with imperial favor.
Everyone praises her as carefree and forthright, a divine sword protecting the nation and a worthy ruler who saves the people.
No one knows that beneath her finery lies an obsession carved to the bone, and shadows surge beside the dragon throne.
He is the frailest legitimate son of the Su clan of Qinghe, serene as a gentle breeze beneath a clear sky, never without his medicine bowl.
Everyone pities his paper-thin life, calling him fragile jade and a gentle, virtuous son of a noble house.
No one sees how, beneath his smile, he calculates every move in the world, or how he plays the game of power even as he coughs blood.
They meet again at a palace banquet. She raises her cup with a smile.
