In the bitter depths of winter in the seventeenth year of Yongchang, a long-planned assassination binds together two people who should never have crossed paths.
Su Wanwan is a beauty who has spent three years forgotten in the imperial harem, living cautiously and keeping a low profile. Her father is a powerful regional official stationed far away in Jiangnan. She knows an emperor's favor is as fleeting as a reflection of flowers on water. All she wants is her family's safety, so she endures her days behind the palace walls, living like a shadow.
Lu Chenzhou is a trusted aide to the emperor and commander of the Imperial Guard, the sharpest and most dangerous blade at His Majesty's side. Acting on the emperor's orders, he secretly investigates the embezzlement of disaster relief funds in Jianghuai, a case that has shaken the court. But the Eastern Depot tries to silence him. Poisoned and on the brink of death, he tumbles into the remote Ningxiang Pavilion.
One is a caged bird in the inner palace, the other a lone official at court. She fights for her own survival and her family's safety; he is driven by fervor and a thirst for justice. Their bond begins with a life-saving favor laced with schemes. Amid lies and probing tests, they are forced to become allies sworn to live and die together.
She maneuvers among the empress, the noble consort, and the Eastern Depot's deadly plots, laying an astonishing wager in the treacherous harem despite her frail appearance. He cuts through layer upon layer of deception in the imperial court, carving a path through a hall of wolves with a body covered in wounds.
"Su Wanwan, stay close. I'll take you to see the sky beyond these palace walls."
"Lu Chenzhou, if you leave and never return, I will drape this imperial city in mourning for you."
When their hidden ambitions catch fire and the false peace is torn apart, what they uncover together is not merely a massive corruption case, but a glimpse of the monstrous system beneath the imperial throne. From using one another to entrusting each other with their lives, they are each other's pawns, and each other's players.
