Princess Jiang Nanzhi, eldest daughter of the Great Jing imperial family, was ruthless and decisive, with countless deaths at her hands. She wielded political schemes to control the court, her eyes fixed only on the blood feud against her mother’s family. She had become a blade with no weakness.
Yet she picked up a soft-spoken male companion named A Li. Gentle and stammering, with an innocent face, he became the only “warmth” in the princess’s residence. She treated him as a plaything, unaware that beneath that face was the person she had every reason to hate most: Xiao Jinli, the crown prince of the fallen Cangfeng kingdom.
His father had died horribly on the city walls, his mother had sacrificed herself for her country, and one hundred thousand Cangfeng subjects had stained the capital, Yundu, with their blood. The one responsible for it all was the very woman before him, dressed in crimson. He had hidden his identity and feigned madness to use her for revenge, but he had fallen for her instead.
One night at the Golden Thread Pavilion, the Heartbound Ash Gu entered their bodies. Their lives and deaths were linked, they shared each other’s pain, and their emotions affected one another. Two enemies who should have fought to the death were forcibly bound together by a forbidden Gu, becoming prisoners who could only survive together.
When he dropped his disguise, the cold, commanding aura of a crown prince overwhelmed everyone. When she uncovered the truth, she found that the amnesia, his mother’s death, and even their meeting had all been part of a stunning scheme!
She hated his every step of careful planning, yet when he wagered his life, she could not bring herself to lower her sword. He hated her for the blood debt she carried, yet when she was in danger, he risked his life to protect her.
The feud between their country and families collided with their forced bond. Memories of the peach blossoms from three years ago resurfaced, Emperor Wen’s scheme gradually came to light, and the secrets of the Heartbound Ash Gu went far beyond linking their lives and deaths...
The ruthless princess versus the patient crown prince of a fallen kingdom. With hatred and love intertwined, who is the player moving the pieces? In this Gu game where their lives are the stakes, no one can walk away unscathed!
