After Being Sent to the Cold Palace, the Emperor’s Heart Was Burned Into Ashes

1. When Gu Zhen was crown prince, he couldn't stand his weak and useless crown princess.

He had always been ruthless and decisive, his gentle exterior concealing a harsh and merciless nature.

But his crown princess was meek, obedient, and soft.

She was utterly unworthy of him.

After he ascended the throne, he crushed the stubborn aristocratic clans with overwhelming force.

The families of Empress Zhao Yiyi were among the first to be targeted.

The empress asked to be confined to the Jiaofang Palace, and Gu Zhen made no response.

Before long, the couple who had once been husband and wife became strangers.

Gu Zhen had always thought there was plenty of time.

He was the emperor, with the whole world in his grasp. There was no need to rush.

But later, when the empress finally grew as cold and hard-hearted as he had wanted,

he realized it might already be too late.

2. Watching the emperor beg her to forgive him,

Zhao Yiyi gave a faint smile. “Get down on your knees and beg me.”

Gu Zhen knelt before her chaise without a moment's hesitation.

Zhao Yiyi looked at the emperor with disdain and gave a scornful laugh.

She gripped Gu Zhen's chin and leaned down. “I was lying. You really believed me?”

Gu Zhen's eyes reddened. He reached out, trying to grab the edge of her robe,

but Zhao Yiyi brushed him away without mercy.

His voice was hoarse. “Yiyi, stop throwing a tantrum. Can't we go back to how things were?”

Zhao Yiyi lowered her head to admire the rouge on her fingertips and said nonchalantly, “No.”

[Reader's Guide] 1. One-on-one romance, no harem.

2. This is a story of a man paying dearly to win his wife back.

3. The word here is “ascend the throne,” not “be enthroned.” The former is more commonly used in historical texts.

Here's a preview of my upcoming novel, The Empress Marries Again.

Synopsis: 1. The northern cavalry swept through the capital. The first thing the new emperor did after entering the city was visit the former dynasty's empress at the Zhujing Palace.

After that, the new emperor was a frequent presence at the Zhujing Palace.

Yuan Huayu had nothing to her name, so she could only beg and plead with the new emperor.

As they walked down the long street, before she could even kneel, the new emperor had already wrapped an arm around her slender waist.

Yuan Huayu lifted her face, lovelier than a lotus flower, and pleaded sorrowfully, “Your Majesty, my husband...”

That night, beneath the hibiscus curtains, the new emperor corrected her in a calm but insistent voice. “Your ex-husband.”

She lowered her eyes, on the verge of tears, and said nothing.

The new emperor gently stroked her brows and eyes, his gaze filled with unmistakable devotion.

But the words that left his thin lips sent a chill through her: “Once I've killed him, will you be my empress, Yaoyao?”

2. Back in the northern lands, Chu Yan often dreamed of Yuan Huayu rejecting him without mercy and turning to the emperor instead.

When he saw her again, the beautiful woman bowed before him, her slender neck bent as though it might snap. It stirred a wicked thought in his heart.

He helped her to her feet himself, his voice warm. “Yaoyao, do you know why I killed my way back from the north to Chang'an?”

Yuan Huayu shook her head, holding back her tears, and said she didn't know.

He suddenly laughed, his gaze dark. “Yaoyao, I told you long ago that I'm the only man you can marry. If there's anyone else you want to marry, I'll kill him.”

“I killed my way back from the north to Chang'an to take his worthless life.”

Theme: If you want forgiveness, you have to keep trying