In the seventh year of Jingxuan, the city gates fell. Blood covered the ground, and the young emperor, who had devoted his life to governing diligently, held the gates to the very end.
The rebel general told him to hand over the treasure and he would spare his life.
The emperor refused.
Everyone under heaven called him a foolish, incompetent ruler who had thrown his life away for a mere possession.
Only Xu Jinshu knew that the rebels had demanded her.
She still remembered their wedding night, the crimson candles blazing as he vowed never to take another consort or forge a marriage alliance with an official's family.
She had been empress for seven years, and there had never been another woman in his harem.
She died for love, never imagining she would come back to life.
That year, he had yet to ascend the throne. He was still Shengjing's most notorious young prince, and was preparing to ask for her hand.
He barged into her chambers and cornered her, the tips of his eyes lifting with a wicked glint. "Three strikes and you're out. If you refuse me again, I'll..."
She threw herself into his arms, rose on tiptoe, and kissed his handsome, jade-like face. "I'll marry you."
Theme: Believe in fate, but don't surrender to it.
