At the autumn hunt in Qianchong Fort, the Yang family’s adopted son risked his life to save the princess and the commandery princess, then plunged into a bottomless cloud-wreathed ravine. Everyone in the capital hailed him as a hero, and the Yang family rose to wealth and prestige thanks to him. Yet the two favored daughters of Heaven remained trapped in the memory of a bloodstained scrap of old clothing, never willing to turn back.
The flames of war rise again. Villages burn to the ground and loved ones are slaughtered. He dons black armor without a face. From border soldier to commander, from bringing up the rear alone with his blade to leading a hundred cavalry across a snowy bridge, the more people he saves, the closer he comes to his fated death. And the princess who once guarded her heart for him for years keeps sending the deadliest military orders his way.
Beyond the far shore, a white-robed sword immortal roams the kingdoms, guarding the boundary between life and death for all under Heaven. But after a lifetime spent upholding fate, the person he most longs to save is none other than the Empress of Xiling, who has never believed his love was true.
Power struggles at court, bloodshed at the border, undercurrents in the martial world, and moves made by three kingdoms. Old friends return; those who know their fate defy it. For the ones they love, they will charge ahead even against a million foes.
In the grand hall of the Great Zhou, the Inkfeather Commander receives his reward, wearing a mask. The emperor grants him a marriage, but the princess coldly refuses: “Marriage should not be another reward added to a military record.”
At the divine palace of Xiling, the sword immortal who guards fate stains his white robes with blood. As the Empress pleads with him in tears, the young man gently says, “Don’t be sad. It’s only an ordinary white robe that’s been soiled.”
I like the author's other works very much