The dynasty is in its final years, and the country is in turmoil.
Though Prime Minister Xiao Yuanheng has the talent to govern the realm, domestic unrest and foreign threats intertwine, and in the end, she cannot stand alone.
When the capital falls, the emperor flees. The Xiao clan kneels to welcome the new ruler, offering Xiao Yuanheng as proof of their allegiance.
Everyone knows that Xiao Yuanheng and Pei Yan have long been bitter enemies. In his hands, she is sure to suffer a fate worse than death.
But few people know that Xiao Yuanheng, who has controlled the entire Daxuan Dynasty for nearly ten years, is actually a woman.
Her true name is Xiao Yuanzhen.
With poisoned wine before her, Xiao Yuanzhen laughs in fury.
Her brilliant twin brother died young, and she was thrust into taking his place at court for ten years. She devoted herself heart and soul, only to be rewarded with a cup of poisoned wine.
She raises the cup and salutes from afar in the direction of the Xiao family shrine.
The new emperor has taken the throne, and as a minister of the old dynasty, she will not survive.
If that's the case, then she'll take the Xiao family down with her.
The prison cell is dark. Dressed in plain white, Xiao Yuanzhen sits before a chessboard, just as she once waited for an old friend to make a move at Yueshan Academy.
Now Pei Yan sits opposite her. She makes a move, and he follows, as if the decade of life-and-death struggle between them had never happened.
The game ends. He loses, she wins.
Pei Yan is silent. Xiao Yuanzhen laughs aloud.
Then she rises and, to Pei Yan's astonishment, grabs him by the lapels and kisses him forcefully.
When the kiss ends, blood spills from the corner of Xiao Yuanzhen's mouth, but she smiles even more triumphantly.
She slowly collapses and closes her eyes, satisfied.
She drank the poisoned wine sent by the Xiao family, and deadly poison still lingers between her lips and teeth.
By tomorrow, the entire court will know that the Xiao family ordered her to assassinate the new emperor before she died.
The Xiao family must be dealt with, too.
The new emperor, Pei Yan, was born to humble origins. Back then, he was merely the son of a low-ranking military officer. By a stroke of luck, he was admitted to Yueshan Academy as an exception, where the sons of aristocratic families all looked down on him.
Only Xiao Yuanzhen treated him as she would anyone else, and the two became confidants.
One was a brilliant minister, the other a brilliant general. The twin pillars of the empire shone for a time.
Later, they turned against each other over their differing ideals and became sworn enemies.
No one knows that Pei Yan has a secret he can't bring himself to say.
He likes men.
After keeping it bottled up for ten years, Pei Yan can finally hold back no longer.
Now that he's seized supreme power and returned in triumph, just as Pei Yan is about to make a move despite knowing the other is a man, the person he has secretly loved for ten years suddenly kisses him hard, then slowly closes her eyes in his arms.
A seemingly ethereal, virtuous minister who is actually a master of every scam vs. a seemingly ruthless, bloodthirsty general who is actually an obedient, loyal dog
Plot-driven.
Theme: Be yourself
