I Want Both the World and Her

Wang Shuyi has spent fifteen years being the perfect Crown Princess-to-be.

She never shows her feet when she walks or her teeth when she smiles. Even the depth of her breathing seems measured by palace rules.

The blizzard on the fifteenth day of the twelfth lunar month is the only time she ever steps out of line.

An abandoned mountain god temple, leftover wine laced with drugs, and the Sixth Prince, Ning Yi, who drinks it with her.

Her breath is scorching, but his is even hotter. His voice hoarse and his eyes red, he pleads, "Miss Wang, save me."

Wang Shuyi cannot say whether she's saving him or herself.

She only remembers that night of abandon. Once she comes to her senses, she dismisses the night at the mountain god temple as an accident. After that, she remains the dignified, self-possessed granddaughter of the Grand Tutor, the future empress.

When the new emperor ascends the throne, she gets her wish and becomes the empress, mother of all under heaven.

At a palace banquet, the emperor takes offense at a minister's remonstrance and plunges a sword into his chest. As everyone flees in panic, Wang Shuyi is helped away by her maids, only to find herself trapped behind a crumbling wall.

In the blood-soaked winter, a man approaches from the end of the covered walkway. Behind him, people carry the emperor, who has lost his senses. He, too, had been drinking at the banquet, but now his eyes are terrifyingly clear as he corners her against the wall.

"Sister-in-law." His breath burns against her ear. Watching her frightened eyes, he brings up the past again. "Will you save me one more time?"

She suppresses the surging turmoil in her heart and pretends to be calm. Coldly, she pushes Ning Yi away, though he is almost pressed against her chest. "Please behave with propriety, Your Highness."

Ning Yi watches her walk away, feeling as if fire is scorching his heart. Later, when he sees the two of them seated side by side on the dragon throne, something he once found uninteresting suddenly becomes painfully hard to look at.

Later, Ning Yi overthrows the tyrannical regime and seizes the throne. He fights his way into the inner palace through mountains of corpses and seas of blood, pulls Wang Shuyi back from the brink of death, and holds her tightly in his arms.

For the rest of her life, she will never be able to push him away again.

Blurb dated February 20, 2026.

Core theme: Treasure life and cherish the present.