The Emperor's Regret

[Ashes-to-ashes revenge, second male lead takes the throne]

Marrying Pei Xuan, the crown prince, was the beginning of Wen Shiqing's fall from the pampered daughter of the prime minister's household into the mire.

During the years when he was deposed and placed under house arrest, Pei Xuan was gloomy and despondent, drowning in sorrow every day. She bore everything for him alone.

The dirty work and drudgery, the cold stares and mockery, the torment and humiliation.

When people plotted against him in secret, she even took the blame and endured the punishment for him, damaging her voice and ruining both her hands.

She had been obsessed with the zither since childhood. No one knew what losing the use of her hands meant to her, yet she still thought that as long as they truly loved each other, it would be enough.

Later, Pei Xuan regained favor and ascended the throne.

She thought her hardships were over and the clouds had parted, but what awaited her were the emperor's cold, heartless words.

"I can make you an Imperial Noble Consort. As for the empress's position..."

He had already promised it to the woman he had loved since childhood. He had not married her before because he couldn't bear to make her suffer.

And she was nothing but a laughable discarded pawn.

Knowing she had lost completely, she knelt on the ground and said in a hoarse, grating voice:

"This discarded woman is unworthy of the title of Imperial Noble Consort. I beg Your Majesty to let me leave the palace and devote myself to spiritual practice, praying for your blessings."

*

The following year, the Imperial Temple on the outskirts of the capital went up in flames.

The former crown princess perished, and the emperor's hair turned white overnight.

*

Several years later, on a spring day in Jiangnan, the emperor was traveling incognito when, amid the apricot blossoms and misty rain, he caught sight of a figure who had haunted his dreams.

A red gauze blouse, a moon-white skirt. She held the hand of a bouncing little boy and looked up at the handsome man beside her, laughing so hard her shoulders shook. She was radiant beyond compare...

Theme: That ray of moonlight you can never have