Su Ruo was an empress in her previous life, betrayed by Emperor Gu Beichen. After three years confined in the Cold Palace, she died of illness. Reborn ten years earlier, she vows revenge and rejects her betrothal, yet is drawn into palace intrigue once more. The arrival of Shen Changfeng, heir to an enemy kingdom, offers her salvation. When the truth comes to light, the emperor is consumed by regret and sets out on the long road to win her back.
She was the legitimate daughter of the Minister of Revenue, renowned throughout the capital for her talent. When she entered the palace and became empress, she was overjoyed, believing she had married an emperor who truly loved her.
The emperor said, "In this life, I will have eyes for no one but you." She believed him.
Only after three years in the Cold Palace did she understand: his affection had been nothing more than a political ploy to keep the court in balance, and her family had been nothing more than a pawn in his campaign to curb the power of the vassal lords.
That winter, snow blanketed the Cold Palace as she lay ill and dying. With her final breath, she smiled at the emperor and said, "Your Majesty, I never loved you."
His eyes red, the emperor roared, "Liar! You loved me, I know you did!"
"Is that so?" she replied with a frail smile. "Then I shall go to the underworld and forget you forever."
In the final moment before she closed her eyes, she heard the emperor's heart-rending cry.
When she opened her eyes again, she was back ten years earlier. That was the year she had just been betrothed to the Crown Prince. It had all yet to begin.
In this life, she would turn her back on everyone and never repeat the same mistakes.
But who could have known that the man who once hurt her would fall for her, step by step, in the face of her coldness, until at last he knelt before her and begged humbly, "A Ruo, give me one more chance..."
She looked at him coldly. "Your Majesty, I no longer know you."
