After ten years of helping the emperor, Xie Tingci was rewarded with poison in the Cold Palace and the annihilation of her entire family.
The false emperor gently told her that her power had grown too great, and with those words he destroyed all her devotion.
She returned to the spring banquet at age fifteen. Her family was still alive, and her enemies were still hiding behind masks of benevolence. She swore to take revenge and never repeat the mistakes of her past life.
Looking across the imperial court, she sought out the young regent Gu Changyuan, who commanded a mighty army on the northern frontier and wielded power across the realm.
In her previous life, they had been enemies at court for ten years. On the day the Xie family fell, he alone had dared to plead for her.
“Your Highness, let’s make a deal. We each get what we need.”
She would use his military power to take revenge, and he would use her intelligence to secure his rule. Once their goals were achieved, they would owe each other nothing.
She held fast to her principles, speaking only of profit and never letting herself fall for him. But as time passed, the walls around her heart crumbled, layer by layer.
She had thought this would be nothing more than a satisfying tale of revenge. Who could have guessed that in the end, he would want to marry her?
