Your Highness, the Princess Consort Left with Your Shadow Guard

"My lord, it's been three days since you sent the princess consort to the side hall as punishment."

"Has she admitted she was wrong?"

"No. She left with your bodyguard on the very first night."

1.

Xie Yao was the legitimate daughter of the powerful Xie family. For her family's interests, she married Lu Qi, Prince Lin'an, and helped him ascend the throne.

Xie Yao did her utmost to help Lu Qi deal with the princes who were vying for the throne.

One evening, she was strolling in the garden when she unexpectedly saw her husband meeting another woman in secret. The two were plotting that once Prince Lin'an ascended the throne, he would depose Xie Yao and make his beloved concubine empress.

Lu Qi's bodyguard also witnessed the scene.

The bodyguard asked Xie Yao, "Your Highness, would you like some sunflower seeds?"

Xie Yao nodded. "Yes, thank you."

Xie Yao and the bodyguard hid in a corner, cracking seeds as they listened to her husband plan how to secretly get rid of his lawful wife once he succeeded.

2.

The Xie and Lu families were bound together by marriage: when one prospered, both prospered, and when one suffered, both suffered.

Even though she knew what Lu Qi had in mind, Xie Yao had to keep helping him deal with outside enemies for the sake of her family.

Yet Xie Yao was surprised to find that Lu Qi treated her differently from what she had expected.

At first, they had been respectful but cold. Later, Lu Qi became attentive in every way, treating her with ever greater tenderness and consideration, as if he truly wanted them to be a loving couple.

Xie Yao continued to hide in a corner with the bodyguard, eating sunflower seeds. "Hah, men. The nicer they act on the surface, the more they want to hurt you inside."

3.

Lu Qi succeeded in taking the throne.

To protect herself, Xie Yao put her carefully prepared escape plan into action and left the palace with the bodyguard, fleeing far away.

The two lived freely and happily among the people, but kept hearing rumors from the palace: the new emperor seemed to have gone mad, constantly sending people to search for his princess consort, his empress.

Later, Xie Yao encountered Lu Qi again. The emperor, sovereign of all beneath Heaven, immediately grew red-eyed when he saw her.

When Prince Lin'an Lu Qi married his principal consort, he thought they had wed for mutual benefit and felt nothing for each other. He intended for them to remain a couple who were close in name but distant in heart, treating each other with chilly respect.

But he failed to realize that, without knowing it, he had fallen in love with his beautiful, brilliant wife.

By the time he finally recognized his feelings, he was already deeply in love and unable to free himself.

After ascending the throne, Lu Qi intended to make his princess consort empress, shower her with all his affection, and live with her as a blissfully devoted couple.

Who could have guessed that, on the night after his enthronement ceremony, his beloved wife and his bodyguard would both vanish?

Tip:

1. The male lead doesn't like the female lead from the start, but gradually falls in love with her.

2. The leads share the same goals and work together against their enemies.

3. The female lead is the legitimate daughter of a powerful family. She has never fallen for the male lead, but puts her family's interests above personal feelings.

4. The second male lead wins her heart.

Cover: Dai Mu / Background: Sheng Tian Ju Zhai Shen Me Zhi | Mu Han Ge Yun Dan Feng Qing

Theme: Country, family, and all under Heaven