The Nation Ensnared

The two nations went to war, and Da Shen was defeated. Princess Yue Qingyin was forced into a political marriage, sent to wed the enemy nation's emperor, a man over sixty. Yue Qingyin was Da Shen's greatest beauty, with a bewitching face and unmatched charm. On the day she left to marry into another country, the people of Da Shen saw her off in tears. But on her first day in Chu, the old emperor suffered a stroke and fell into a coma. The ministers of Chu called her a calamity and wanted her executed, yet secretly they all coveted her. To protect herself, Yue Qingyin had no choice but to seek help from the elegant and noble crown prince. That night, she knelt before him, tears at the corners of her eyes, looking utterly pitiful. "Please, Your Highness, have mercy on me." * The Crown Prince of Chu, Shen Xingqiu, was noble and gentle, refined and composed. All his life, he had been upright and courteous, always mindful of propriety and never crossing the line. But later, those jade-white hands that had only ever held a writing brush were stained with blood. He murdered the emperor, usurped the throne, and stopped at nothing. After seizing the throne, the first thing Shen Xingqiu did was build a golden cage in the imperial harem. In the golden chamber, beneath its soft curtains, his gaze was icy as he gripped her slender wrist, enclosing her in his palm. "I murdered my father, betrayed my country, and broke my word for you. What did you promise me?" The chains rattled. Yue Qingyin turned her head, her eyes lowered, a faint tear at the corner of her eye, not quite falling. He suddenly chuckled, brushing the red mark at the corner of her eye. His dark eyes fixed on her, his voice husky. "You will stay by my side forever." [A cunning, alluring beauty x a once-gentle, noble crown prince who becomes a mad, ruthless emperor] -She is the only flame in an endless night. Even if it burns him, he will hold on to her tightly. Theme: Refusing to yield in the face of hardship