The Princess Who Protects the Nation: Ruyi's Tale

In the winter of the eighteenth year of Hongchang, my maternal grandfather, Emperor Shengdezu, died on his way back from offering sacrifices to Heaven at Mount Ling. I was only five years old then.

Five years later, my mother, the Grand Princess Changping, and my father, the Marquis of Zhennan, passed away one after another.

My imperial uncle had always doted on me. After my mother died, he allowed me to inherit her fief and residence.

I was also promoted to the title of Princess Ruyi, meaning good fortune and fulfillment.

I was ten years old then.

My mother once told me that the imperial palace was a monster that devoured people's hearts and livers. No matter how clever you were, how many skills you had, or how many tricks you knew, the moment you crossed the palace gates, your heart would no longer belong to you.

All my closest family had spent their lives burdened by these rivers and mountains stretching a thousand miles.

I hoped that one day I could leave these palace walls with my heart and my mother's wish.

But I had forgotten: this monster had swallowed my heart the moment I was born...