[The ruthless, womanizing and ambitious schemer] x [The mute, high-born Jiangzuo woman]
He Yan was born with his sights set on all nine provinces.
His father held the military power of the realm, and He Yan was the finest heir. When the young emperor refused to remain a puppet, He Yan taught him to recognize who truly ruled the realm.
At twenty-two, He Yan controlled the military and government, and held the court in his grasp. A prince's title, the chancellorship, the Nine Bestowments, an abdication edict: he tightened his hold at every step.
During the Battle of Shouyang, He Yan laid siege to the city for days and happened to acquire a woman.
Gu Lingyi, daughter of the prominent Jiangzuo Gu clan, was peerlessly beautiful, talented, and skilled at the zither. He Yan had heard of her fame before he ever met her.
When Shouyang fell, her father and brothers were all killed. The daughter of the Gu family, once famous throughout Jiangzuo, never spoke again.
He Yan thought nothing of it. If she would not speak, he could write for her; if she would not obey, he could teach her; if she wanted to die, he could stop her; if she tried to escape, he could catch her. Now that she was in his hands, she belonged to him.
He Yan wanted too much from life.
Cities, armies, famous ministers, power, and that most exalted seat in the realm.
Gu Lingyi was merely a woman he had happened upon amid his long pursuit of ambition.
He could spoil her, indulge her, and lay the rarest treasures in the realm before her.
He could also kill her father and brothers, destroy her homeland, and keep her imprisoned at his side forever.
He Yan thought power was enough to solve every problem in the world, until many years later, when he was only one step away from the throne.
His old enemies were dead, the young emperor had bowed his head, the court was in his hands, and even the blade offered by his own brother had been accounted for in his plans.
He had missed nothing in the hearts of the people of the realm, except for one Gu Lingyi.
[The literary version]
North of the Huai River lay Wei; south of the Yangtze lay Liang.
When Shouyang fell, one man's dominion over the realm began, while another's came to an end.
From Shouyang to Ye, from the military camp to the court, former rulers, powerful ministers, famous generals, brothers, and emperors entered the turbulent game of power.
The fires of war still raged in Henan when fighting broke out again in Jiangnan. Cities captured yesterday changed hands today, and companions who stood together today became enemies tomorrow.
He Yan stepped over countless lives, ascending higher with every step.
Gu Lingyi was forced to remain at his side, watching him seize cities, control the court, and depose and enthrone emperors, while her former homeland faded into the smoke of war.
North and south, noble clans and military camps, the way of kings and the quest for hegemony, desire and the human heart.
It turned out that there was someone whom even power vast enough to shake the heavens could not keep.
A dream of a bygone war-torn age, an unfinished ascent to the throne.
[Reader's Guide]
1. Set in a fictionalized Southern and Northern Dynasties era. The characters and some historical events draw on the period between Eastern Wei and Northern Qi, with historical figures such as Gao Cheng serving as important models. Character relationships, the course of the wars, and the ending are all heavily fictionalized.
2. The early chapters contain intense scenes involving war captives, coercion, and forced relationships. The male lead is not a good person and has a low moral threshold. He will not be redeemed. Please proceed with caution if this bothers you.
3. The male lead's ambitions and career occupy a large part of the story, which contains extensive war, court struggles, military and political maneuvering, family conflicts, and transfers of power. Romance is an important part of his life, but it is not everything.
4. This is not a traditional "coercion turns to love" story. The heroine will not easily let go of her hatred for the deaths of her father and brothers just because the hero favors and indulges her. The characters' feelings follow their own positions and experiences.
--Note dated August 17, 2026
Theme: In troubled times, cities may be taken, but the hearts of the people cannot be seized.
