He is the heir to a kingdom, and she is the orphaned daughter of a military family.
In the seventeenth year of Yongping, Shen Zhenyuan, Marquis of Zhenbei, dies in battle. The loyal Shen family is left with only the orphaned Shen Xingluo and her frail mother. Remembering their old friendship, the Empress takes fifteen-year-old Shen Xingluo into the palace and grants her the title of Lady Anping.
The Crown Prince, Xie Jinyu, is nineteen, born to the Empress. Beneath his gentle, jade-like appearance lies a keen and calculating imperial heart.
At their first meeting, a little girl with a smile bright as the morning sun bursts into his world. She reads quietly in the library, clumsily feeds the fish in the imperial garden, and stubbornly wipes away her tears after being bullied.
He teaches her to read and write; she brews tea and grinds ink for him. He protects her and keeps her safe; she risks everything for him.
At the assassination attempt during the ceremony to appoint the Crown Prince, she gives her life to protect the Empress. During the danger of the Lantern Festival, he takes the blow in her place to keep her safe.
Deep within the palace, their hearts quietly draw closer as they spend each day together.
