Everyone says that Shen Yezhou, the Third Prince of Northern Yan, is cold-blooded and merciless, a “living King of Hell” who climbed to power over a mountain of corpses.
When Jiang Xun first met him, he thought the same.
At the time, Jiang Xun was merely an impoverished scholar living under someone else's roof. A brilliant chess game won him entry to the prince's manor, where he became the most inconspicuous adviser at Shen Yezhou's side. Gentle and modest, with a plan for every contingency, he helped Shen Yezhou eliminate political rivals, win people's support, and advance step by step.
Everyone said Shen Yezhou had found himself the sharpest of blades.
Only Jiang Xun knew that he had never approached the man to serve him.
He had come for revenge.
He thought this was a carefully planned hunt. He thought he was cold enough to navigate a web of false affection without losing his footing.
But there was one thing he hadn't accounted for:
The iron-blooded prince, famed for his ruthless decisiveness, would bring him a bowl of hot medicine late at night and say stiffly, “You're worth more than all those memorials.”
The “living King of Hell,” feared by every official at court, would hold his icy hand in a snowbound ruined temple and let down every guard. “Jiang Xun, if we make it back alive, I'll give you a lifetime of wealth and glory.”
Red and black threads intertwine between them, and the gears of fate begin to turn backward.
When the truth comes to light, Jiang Xun realizes with a start that the man he wants to kill is the only person in the world who must not die.
