Synopsis
[Clearheaded, Slow-Burning Beauty of an Empress Dowager X Cunning, Scheming Young Emperor]
(Moon Festival)
Zhu Hengchuan: Can someone like me receive a god's blessing?
Xie Huanyi: Absolutely.
(The day of the palace coup)
Xie Huanyi: Once this is done, you become emperor and I leave the palace.
Zhu Hengchuan: Fine.
(After he ascends the throne)
Xie Huanyi: ? You only listened to half of what I said?
Zhu Hengchuan: Correct.
Xie Huanyi had only just come of age when she entered the palace. The emperor was over sixty, suspicious by nature, and wary of the Prime Minister's residence. The empress was pregnant and walking on eggshells. After much deliberation, Prime Minister Xie sent his daughter into the palace to win the emperor's favor.
Once inside the palace, Xie Huanyi worked diligently to ensure the empress could safely give birth, intending to leave with her work done and make a graceful exit. But she unexpectedly discovered that Prince Jin's parentage was in question. She planned to use this as leverage to strike a deal with him, never realizing that the longest road in the world was Prince Jin's tangled web of schemes.
Everyone in the palace said Prince Jin, Zhu Hengchuan, kept company with wastrels and was beyond hope. Though the emperor favored him, his maternal family were criminals, so he had no chance of succeeding to the throne.
He had spent years treating his enemy as his father, maneuvering and plotting at every turn. He thought himself too devious and wicked to deserve divine favor, until she smiled serenely at the Moon Festival and told him he was blessed. Only then did his resolve begin to waver.
Later, Prince Jin seized the throne in a single stroke, drenched the palace in blood, and restored the rightful line. With nowhere else to turn, she carried the empress's orphaned child to him and begged him to spare the innocent baby.
Her tears fell like pearls, each one landing in his heart. He helped her to her feet and gravely agreed to every request she made. But after ascending the throne, he broke his promise and kept her in the palace, defying all opposition to place her in the most exalted position a woman could hold in the realm.
"The empress dowager may have anything she desires, including your humble servant. I will place myself at your service. But leaving the palace is the one thing I cannot allow."
She looked coldly at his crazed expression and called him a madman.
"Then a madman I shall be. Even if I must descend into hell, the empress dowager will come with me."
1. One-on-one romance, both leads are each other's only partner. The male lead falls in love at first sight; the female lead falls for him over time.
2. Warning: childhood-friend male supporting character, but their relationship never develops into true love.
3. The romance is handled normally. This is not a story with abusive, morally bankrupt relationships or the heroine being imprisoned.
Theme: The sincere and kind will find a way through the darkness.