Everyone knows that Empress Ye Qingci is plain-looking, poorly educated, and meek to a fault. She was forced on Xiao Jue as his wife by an edict from the late emperor.
Xiao Jue once believed the same.
But later, he discovers the truth: his empress can astonish the Hanlin Academy with her writing, command the imperial guard with her martial skill, and even bring the dead back to life with her mastery of medicine. He watches himself fall into the warmth of her gaze, taking her tender attentiveness as proof that she loves him deeply.
Only when a hidden portrait is unfurled and he sees that the man in it bears a striking resemblance to him does Xiao Jue understand. All her tenderness and special treatment are because he has a face so like the man she loves.
“Ha…” He crushes the torn portrait in his hand. The warmth in his eyes freezes, inch by inch, into a blade of obsession.
“Ye Qingci, since you chose me as your substitute…”
“Then in this life, the next, and for all eternity, your heart and soul will belong by my side alone.”
