The Canary

During the Rebellion of the Three Princes, the capital was drenched in blood. Liu Rui, the crown prince, took refuge in his aunt Princess Kanghua's residence. Kanghua was busy fleeing with her own children, leaving only Chu Yan, the princess's husband's daughter by a concubine, to look after Liu Rui. Chu Yan's mother had been a maid in the household, a woman of lowly status. Chu Yan was conceived one night when her father was drunk. After giving birth to her, her mother took the reward money from the princess and left. Her father regarded Chu Yan as a disgrace and despised her. Chu Yan grew up in a cramped courtyard, ignored by her father and shunned by her sisters. Liu Rui was the first person willing to sit quietly and listen to her. She loved him, and willingly drew the pursuers away from him, calmly accepting her death. Later, she learned that Liu Rui was no different from anyone else. He looked down on her origins and secretly mocked her naivety, never realizing that she knew he was using her. Her heart finally turned cold. On the day Liu Rui married her legitimate elder sister, she escaped the imperial palace, hoping to find a place to call home in the vast world and live a good life. But Liu Rui refused to let her go. He sent the Imperial Guards to hunt her down and surround her. When he caught her, he gripped her chin, his expression crazed, and forced her again and again in her ear: "A Yan, swear that you will never leave me." But the usually gentle Chu Yan only sneered. "In your dreams." As a boy, Liu Rui once met a girl. She was lowly, frail, and even a little foolish. He scorned her and used her, believing he would never regret it. Until, in time, he gained supreme power, ruled the world, and possessed all under heaven, yet he was willing to trade everything he had to bring that girl back. But the girl who had once loved him deeply only mocked him for being foolish and mad. One-on-one romance, both leads sexually inexperienced. A deranged emperor versus a frail concubine-born girl. Theme: Oppose feudalism and oppression