Imprisoned in His Embrace: The Fallen Kingdom's Princess and Her Tyrant

She saved his life, but he slaughtered her entire family.

When Zhao Wan'er, the little princess of Dayong, saw Xiao Jinyan kneeling in the snow while her imperial brother bullied him, his whole body purple with cold, she couldn't bear to look away. She took the blows meant for him, brought him medicine, wrapped him in a cotton robe, and dragged him back from the brink of death time and again. He was a hostage sent from Beiqi, a dog the whole palace could kick, yet to her, he was the boy she hid in her heart. She had no idea that every night he carved a mark into the wall with his dagger, each one bearing the name of someone he would kill one day.

Later, he escaped from Dayong and returned to Beiqi, ascended the throne, and led three hundred thousand cavalry to raze Yongjing. Zhao Jingxuan was executed by slow slicing, Zhao Lingyue was put to death, and Zhao Jingyu was beheaded. Her father hanged himself, and her mother died for her country. Not one member of the imperial clan survived. He walked toward her through the flames and said, “I owe you. I’ll repay you for the rest of my life.”

Imprisoned in the inner palace of Beiqi and named Consort Wan, she was summoned to his bedchamber every night and reigned supreme over the harem. Everyone said the emperor had gone mad: keeping a princess of a fallen kingdom by his side was like raising a venomous snake. They were right. She wanted to kill him. Hairpins, daggers: she tried countless times, and every time he stopped her with a smile, never punishing her.

Until, one night, she finally drove a dagger into his abdomen. He fell into a pool of blood. He didn't call for help or fight back; he only looked at her, his eyes filled with shattered love and a trace of relief. With his last breath, he said, “You saved my life. It’s only right that I give it back to you.”