In her previous life, she saved his life, and he imprisoned her behind palace walls for five years.
In this life, she only wants to pass that "debt of gratitude" on to someone else, but he refuses to let her go.
Yue Yuanjiang was reborn at sixteen, before the Yue family was brought to ruin.
In her previous life, she saved Xie Yingzhou, badly wounded and on the brink of death in the mountains. From then on, the emperor kept her confined in Fengqi Palace for five years. He spared her parents and cleared the Yue family's name, but also locked her entire life behind palace walls, where she remained until her death, never free.
In this life, she wants nothing from him: not his gratitude, not his affection, and certainly not those five years of imprisonment without a glimpse of daylight.
Before the Jiyitang makes its move, she'll cut off every hand reaching for the Yue family. She'll personally pass the debt of gratitude for saving his life on to Shi Yuqing, who had loved him devotedly in her previous life.
But when she sneaks alone into the hills west of the city, avoids the deadly ambush, and places Xie Yingzhou in Shi Yuqing's arms...
The first thing the emperor asks after regaining consciousness is:
"Who stitched up my wound?"
She changes her clothes, conceals her identity, wears a medicinal bead bracelet on her wrist, and buries her memories of her previous life deep within her heart. She plans every step carefully, plots against the Jiyitang, arranges an escape route for the Yue family, and even digs out the keepsake from her childhood engagement.
But Xie Yingzhou presses her harder at every turn. He leaves traces at the foot of the mountain, puts a paper packet on her windowsill, lures her to a teahouse in the south of the city, then slides a fragment of poisonous dendrobium in front of her.
"I've been investigating for three months. I traced it from Jiangnan to the capital, and the trail ends at the Jiyitang."
She thinks she's in the shadows while he stands in the open. She has no idea that he's seen things more clearly than anyone from the very beginning.
What she doesn't know is that the colorless, odorless powder in her palm, the short, coarse pine needles in his sleeve, and the unsettlingly calm nod that follows his question, "What are you planning?"
All point to a truth she'd never imagined.
In her previous life, she was the one imprisoned in Fengqi Palace. But she's not the only one who returned with memories of the past.
She's determined to get away from him and hand her debt of gratitude to someone else. But she doesn't know that what he remembers isn't only the time she saved him...
He remembers the five years he spent without her. Dual rebirth × medical intrigue and power struggles × careful plotting
She thinks she's the one moving the pieces, but she doesn't realize he's already made his moves on the board.
In this life, she'll keep her own fate in her hands.
But he intends to put her back in his heart.
Message: Fate is never a single predetermined path. Women need not be defined by becoming empress, by romance, or by the constraints of the palace. They can choose their own lives and use their own strength to protect their loved ones. The story also explores the paradox of fate: when more than one person enters the game with memories of a past life, rewriting destiny is itself full of uncertainty and struggle.
Ups and downs good[purple sugar]kswl