He came through the snow to burn the palace to the ground; she welcomed him with open arms, staking everything on the emperor’s true love.
Su Liqing, burdened by the blood feud of his murdered family, uses his frail body and breathtaking beauty as weapons. As if by fate, he falls into the hunting grounds of Empress Shen Jinghong. Captivated by those bloodstained phoenix eyes, she rescues him without a word and bestows on him the honored title of Noble Attendant Chen and boundless favor. A fox-fur scarf, a warm pavilion by the hot springs: on a snowy night, she warms his cold hands and coaxes him to call her “Sister.”
In the deep palace, jealousy is poison. Beneath her protection, he advances one careful step at a time, trembling at the heart of a tender trap.
The truth is cruel: the deadliest plots are often laid by the one you love most. When the final trap is sprung, all that remains in her arms is his faint warmth and the feeble heartbeat of the life within her.
From the emperor’s sole favorite to a pawn of revenge, their encounter began as a scheme, but had already changed in the countless nights they spent in each other’s arms. He cannot tell whether it is the fire of vengeance or her warmth that makes him lose himself; she does not know whether wagering the whole realm will bring salvation or a deeper ruin.
In the end, the history books preserve only a sigh: In the Jinghong era, Su, Lord Chen, was favored above all others in the six palaces, but love came too late to last.
