[Historical Political Intrigue | Marquis’s Household as a Prison | Fated Push and Pull | Strong Female Lead Breaks Free and Saves Herself]
Shen Jiechun is widely recognized as the most beautiful legitimate daughter in the Great Yong Dynasty.
With the cool grace of jade and a beauty renowned throughout the capital, she has been trapped since childhood in the gilded cage of a marquis’s household.
Her mother’s old case lies buried. Her stepmother smiles with false kindness while secretly poisoning her with a slow-acting toxin. Her half-sister steals her talent and reputation, encroaching on her at every turn.
A marriage contract with the Crown Prince is yet another snare, meant to sacrifice her to imperial power.
Everyone hopes she will bow meekly and become a springtime doll for others to manipulate.
But beneath her gentle exterior, she has long since honed herself into a blade.
At court, Xie Linyuan is a cold-faced Grand Tutor with power over the entire court, and the most handsome man in the world.
No one knows that he has secretly protected Shen Jiechun for ten whole years, repeatedly saving her from certain death.
But because their positions and loyalties keep them apart, he hides his love in his eyes, never daring to speak of it.
Then there is Su Qingyuan, a talented young woman from a noble family, who wraps herself in a gentle facade and binds others with debts of gratitude. She uses public opinion to pressure them at every turn, repeatedly framing Shen Jiechun in an attempt to tear the two apart.
She advances carefully through a whirlpool of schemes, while he silently protects her from the depths of the power struggle.
They are evenly matched, yet must disguise their deep feelings as distance. They suspect one another, yet again and again risk their lives to protect each other.
Family ties are shackles, love is entanglement, and glory is a prison.
When the truth comes to light, her family betrays her and the marriage contract shatters into nothing.
The peerless beauty breaks free of her chains and joins forces with an unmatched minister of power to punish the wicked and clear the old injustice.
All the splendor in the world is a prison; in this life, I will free myself from its tangle.
She wants no one’s protection. She only wants to break free of every bond, stay true to herself, venture into the world, and find a freedom that truly belongs to her.
