Xiao Yuzhi was the legitimate daughter of Emperor Wu and his empress, born to a noble station and blessed with natural beauty.
But it was only when she died that Xiao Yuzhi learned she was nothing but a villainous shrew in a popular tale, a sacrificial pawn doomed to a tragic end.
As the most outstanding princess of the Great Liang, Xiao Yuzhi was promised a fine match at an early age. Her consort, Yin Zhan, came from a prominent family, was widely read and knowledgeable, and was a refined young gentleman in his prime.
But before her wedding, Xiao Yuzhi became entangled in an ambiguous relationship with her younger uncle, enraging Emperor Wu and losing his favor.
She entered the Yin family with a reputation for lechery and arrogance, so it was no wonder her husband took no liking to her. Yin Zhan avoided her like the plague and wouldn’t lay a finger on her, yet secretly kept a beautiful mistress behind her back.
The mistress was the original heroine of the tale, the woman her consort had carefully hidden away. The two carried on a secret affair, and soon she was pregnant.
Xiao Yuzhi promptly resorted to ruthless measures to tear them apart. Yin Zhan hated her to the bone, but didn’t dare ask for a divorce.
Several years later, an enemy state invaded, and Yin Zhan colluded with the enemy from within.
The capital fell. Xiao Yuzhi was famed for her beauty, and the enemy commander specifically ordered that she be sent to the imperial palace, where she was abused to death.
Everyone said Princess Hanyang was a disaster of a woman, and that she had brought her misfortune upon herself. But no one could have guessed that there was more to the supposed “affair” with her younger uncle.
Reborn on the day her illicit affair was discovered, Xiao Yuzhi no longer wanted to be a sacrificial pawn doomed to a tragic end. She decided to defy fate and change her destiny, only to unexpectedly fall into the arms of the man who had turned the tide after her death and driven out the invaders.
Theme: My fate is mine to decide, not Heaven’s.
