Shen Zhiwei, Empress of the Central Palace, smashes the imperial seal with her own hands, severing a decade of deep love.
He is the emperor, ruler of all under Heaven, yet he personally drives the woman who loves him most to the brink.
Her heart is dead and her body broken. All she wants is to die and never see him again.
When he finally comes to his senses, he kneels outside the Cold Palace, his tears falling over the land.
Only then does he learn:
Some bonds, once broken, can never be mended.
Some people, once dead, can never come back to life.
She once donned armor and fought for him, surviving near death time and again. In return, he deposed her, sent her to the Cold Palace, cut off her charcoal, and denied her medicine.
Now her heart is ash. She feels neither resentment nor hatred; she only longs for a swift death.
But he would offer her his empire and spend the rest of his life atoning, kneeling before her and begging her to look at him once more.
But those whose hearts have died never turn back.
This time, it is his turn to suffer damnation.
