The Candle Burns Out, Unaware of the Years

Only when the long candles burned out did he realize that the years had already slipped away. After they parted, he lost track of how much time had passed.

Shen Qingci was the legitimate daughter of a family of military commanders, spirited and proud from a young age. She first met Crown Prince Xiao Jue during the Shangyuan Lantern Festival. The lanterns reflected the faint smile in his eyes, and she fell for him at first sight. Back then, he was not yet heir to the throne, had neither power nor influence, and struggled at every turn. She devoted the full strength of the Shen family to helping him gain a foothold in the treacherous court.

She thought that the day he donned the imperial crown would be the day he came to marry her in a grand procession.

But imperial power is cruel and fickle. After Xiao Jue ascended the throne, an imperial decree accused the Shen family of high treason, and the entire household was thrown into prison. Their old vows of eternal love turned into blades, stabbing straight into her heart. Seated on the dragon throne in the great hall, he looked at her indifferently and declared that her crimes were unforgivable, cutting off every member of the Shen family's chance to live.

Shen Qingci leapt from the city tower. The world believed the commander's daughter had died, her body lost without a trace. Only Xiao Jue remained alone in the palace through the long nights, lighting white candles one after another, year after year, waiting for someone who would never return.

He took the throne that all under heaven looked up to and gained the vast realm he had dreamed of, but forever lost the woman who had fought through every thorn and obstacle for him. Others saw only the emperor's cold-blooded cruelty. They did not know that behind the shocking treason lay the helpless calculations he had endured, or the plan he could never speak of to keep her safe.

The candle flames flickered through the endless night. The candles in the hall burned down, year after year. Alone in the empty hall, he ran his fingertips over the half of a jade pendant she had left behind, watching the autumn wind year after year.

The candles burned out, and he lost track of the years. One thought led him to mistake his whole life.

The vast realm was his, but there was no one left in the world to call him A Jue. Time passed, the candle flame neared its end, and he guarded this empty imperial throne day after day, counting the long, lonely years amid endless regret.

Theme: Historical romance