Fate kept them apart, yet their love ran deep
Ning Rou was born a daughter of a military family, a tiger among women. On the vast, desolate frontier, she witnessed lonely columns of smoke rising from the desert and the sun setting over the long river.
When she was ten, she watched both her parents die in battle. Her carefree, peaceful life was abruptly cut short.
She was brought back to the Southern Dynasty's capital, where she depended on her elderly grandfather for support. The imperial family showed her boundless favor, but that also meant she had to tread carefully among the various factions, taking each step with caution.
The first time, the Empress Dowager tried to betroth her to Su Qingci, heir to the Prince of Zhennan. But due to a misunderstanding, things ended badly, and she became known to everyone as a lone star of ill omen.
The second time, she chose a suitable husband herself: Zhao Jiuxiao, the Great General of the Cavalry. She thought they were of one mind and in love, but unforeseen complications arose, and she was rejected once again.
By the third time, she had given up on the idea of a harmonious marriage in which husband and wife would cherish one another. She decided to accept the man her grandfather had chosen for her, but a war intervened, and the wedding was put on hold once more.
So she returned to the frontier, to the desert swept by endless winds and sand. On that vast, blood-soaked battlefield, she faced death again and again, staining the yellow sands with blood...
