He was once a hostage prince from an enemy state, bloodied beneath her whip. She was Princess Zhaoyi, the executioner on the high platform. Their countries' enmity and their families' vendettas stood between them like a mountain, until they discovered that the deaths of both their elder brothers on the battlefield led back to the same shadow at the very top of the power structure.
From testing one another to entrusting each other with their lives, they join forces to tear through layers of conspiracy: the embezzlement of military provisions, cheating in the imperial examinations, collusion between officials and merchants... When a plague ravages the land, he saves the people but is branded a "spy from the enemy state." Amid the public outcry, she declares with unshakable resolve, "He, Pei Linyuan, is the consort of Princess Zhaoyi!"
From then on, they walk the thorny road together.
He returns to his homeland in a blood-soaked struggle for the throne. After she falls from a cliff for his sake, she is presumed dead and vanishes without a trace. For six years, he searches everywhere, but cannot find the slightest sign of her. When they meet again, he is the khan of Northern Rong, while she has become the marshal of Southern Chu. Their armies face off, war raging across the land. Then the Empress Dowager of Southern Chu brings their son to the top of the city wall, leaving him stunned. The gale whips the battle flags as he suddenly reins in his horse before the assembled armies. On the child's young face is a mark of bloodline no one can deny. Furious and trembling, she turns the long sword in her hand with a ringing clang and points it at the towering palace behind her. "You want this realm," she says, fixing her gaze on him through the raging smoke and flames. "Then I'll win it for you."
Palace coups, rebellions crushed, the eight corners of the world pacified. She bathes the road to his return in blood; he points his sword in every direction for her. When the land is finally united, he offers her the realm as his bride price and takes her hand in the blood-red dawn. "Stand by my side, not hidden behind the curtains of the inner palace, but atop these vast lands. From now on, we'll share the realm's burdens and face life and death together."
The land is our pact, the realm my bride price. I will honor our love and never fail the people!
