The Tyrant Shatters His Kneecaps in a Plea for Mercy, While She Begs for Pity with the Phoenix Seal Stained in Blood

Ruan Xingyao, a concubine-born daughter of a military family, spent three years in the imperial palace in her previous life, giving her heart to the wrong man.

The emperor unjustly suspected and framed her at every turn. In the end, she was sentenced to death by a strip of white silk and died miserably in the Cold Palace, while her entire family was wiped out.

Reborn, she awakens on the eve of a marriage substitution. Her elder half-sister sacrifices herself to take Ruan Xingyao's place in a dangerous marriage. Soon after marrying into the Shen family and entering the palace, she dies mysteriously, her cause of death unknown.

A shocking secret from fifteen years ago is finally revealed:

To control imperial power, the late emperor of the Great Zhou ordered his secret guard, Xiao Xuan, to place a forbidden soul-binding spell on the young emperor, twisting his nature and driving him to cruelty.

Xiao Xuan obeyed the order, but his conscience remained. For fifteen years, he protected her in silence while secretly gathering evidence of the crimes.

Ruan Xingyao lies low in the palace, plotting at every turn. She helps the emperor quell a palace rebellion and ascend to the empress's throne.

Unexpectedly, Wei Roujia maliciously frames her and poisons her. Ruan Xingyao is deposed, thrown into the Cold Palace, and left on the verge of death as the poison takes hold.

An ancient mirror reveals long-buried events. Only then does the emperor learn that the violence and cruelty that defined half his life were caused by the forbidden spell, and that he wronged the beloved and the loyal. “Everyone called him a tyrant, but no one knew his mad, obsessive love ‘exploded’ for her alone.”

Consumed by remorse, he travels a thousand miles to Jiangnan, kneels without rising, and pursues her desperately, seeking redemption.

When love and hate fade away, her strength of character remains.

Ruan Xingyao returns to the palace in triumph, settles scores with her enemies, revisits old cases, and reforms the government.

The emperor yields all power to her, spending the rest of his life by her side in atonement.

As empress of the Great Zhou, she takes charge of the court and safeguards the realm. Rising against all odds from a lonely girl in the mire, she ultimately becomes the true sovereign of the Great Zhou, its uncrowned phoenix ruler.