Blurb:
The court is corrupt and ineffectual, and warlords rise across the land.
To bring peace to the Central Plains, Xiao Heng, military governor of the northern frontier, marches on the capital, puts an end to the rebellion, and becomes the youngest founding emperor in the history books.
Afterward, Xiao Heng leaves his harem empty and devotes himself tirelessly to state affairs. In just five years, he ushers in a golden age for the Great Qi dynasty, becoming the flawless, benevolent emperor of the ages in the people’s eyes.
But Xiao Heng’s excessive labors leave him plagued by debilitating headaches. Whenever one strikes, he feels as though he could bash his head against the ground.
His close aide, Xu Yi, introduces Xiao Heng to his own wife, Xiuyin, who has medical skills.
Xu Yi and Xiao Heng are both sovereign and subject, and friends. They fought side by side to conquer the realm, and Xu Yi once took a fatal arrow for Xiao Heng.
His wife Xiuyin, meanwhile, has miraculous healing hands, especially skilled at massage with her slender, delicate fingers.
Yet after months of Xiuyin attending the emperor, his headaches haven’t eased. If anything, they strike more and more often.
He even summons Xiuyin to the palace at night, while she and her husband are sharing an intimate conversation.
One day, with urgent state business at hand, Xu Yi enters the palace late at night to see the emperor. Behind His Majesty, beyond a crimson gauze curtain, he glimpses a beautiful silhouette covering her face with a handkerchief, sobbing uncontrollably.
The wind lifts one corner of the curtain, revealing a section of her flawless, pale arm, marked with the angry imprint of five fingers...
*
From birth, Xiao Heng was regarded as an ill omen. He spent half his life proving that his virtue was unmatched and that Heaven had chosen him.
Until one day, when his head was splitting with pain, he accidentally fell into that woman’s warm, soft embrace.
As her soft, boneless hands came to rest against his shoulders,
Xiao Heng committed the greatest mistake of his life, one he would never regret.
*
All under heaven say Xiao Heng is a true dragon emperor who keeps himself in check and follows the rites.
Only Xiuyin knows how, in the dark palace chamber, the man in black robes embroidered with golden thread drags her, step by step, into an abyss from which she cannot escape...
Core theme: Learn to love others.
