This is a game of chess that began with exploitation, and a reckless gamble in which they put their lives in each other’s hands.
Yan Huayao, the most notorious princess of Great Yan, hides an ambition to stir up the world beneath her wild and carefree exterior. Xiao Heng, a hostage sent by Beichen, bears the burden of a spy’s mission beyond his control beneath a harmless, obedient mask.
One night, with nowhere else to turn, he offers himself to her. She sees through him at a glance, yet gladly accepts.
From then on, the court becomes their chessboard, and the people are their pieces. He plots against the hearts of men while she turns others’ strength to her advantage. Together, they carve out a path through the treacherous struggle for the throne. Fighting side by side on the edge of a blade, their cold exchange of favors gives way to feelings that neither can control.
But when his identity as an undercover agent comes to light, they must choose between their country and the one they love, between family and betrayal. On the edge of a cliff, they make the wildest choice of all: to betray their former masters and face life and death together.
Later, she ascends to the pinnacle of Great Yan’s power, while he settles a lifelong feud in Beichen. People gossip that the female emperor of Great Yan married a prince who was once a hostage from an enemy nation.
No one knows that in their game of chess, with the world itself at stake, they had long since entrusted their only weakness to each other.
