On the third day of the third month of the eleventh year of the Zhenyuan era, the eunuch faction rebelled, assassinated the emperor, and plotted treason. That night, Empress Gu Qu died without a sound beneath a rain of arrows that pierced her heart, becoming a casualty of the former dynasty's power struggles.
She was the adopted daughter of the military governor Gu Shen, and at fifteen, by imperial decree, she entered the palace as empress.
Looking back on her life, she had been trapped in the deep palace, surrounded by open and hidden dangers, treading on thin ice. Everyone said Empress Gu was jealous, immoral, and unvirtuous. In the end, her infamy clung to her, and she died without ever clearing her name.
Reborn, all she wants is to live freely: repay every grudge and settle every score.
As factional struggles at court grow ever more intense, Gu Qu is alone in the deep palace, with little power to her name. To avenge herself for what happened in her previous life, she turns her attention to Gu Yun Zhao, the powerful elder brother of the Gu family.
Gu Yun Zhao spent his life fighting on the battlefield. He took command of the Shuofang Army at fourteen, raised an army at twenty-three, and conquered the feudal lords and unified the realm at twenty-seven, becoming the founding emperor of the Great Liang dynasty and establishing the reign title Jingyan.
In the second year of the Jingyan era, the young emperor died when an old illness returned.
Gu Yun Zhao quelled the realm's conflicts and accomplished deeds without precedent. The histories and the streets alike overflowed with praise for him.
Yet, it was said that this new dynasty's founding emperor, who had spent his life on horseback and at war, called out the name of the late empress of the previous dynasty in his final moments.
But the official histories never recorded this, and the rumor too was swallowed by time. The truth drifted away like smoke, never to be known.
[Reader's Guide]
1. One-on-one romance, both leads are each other's first and only partners in both lives, happy ending. The heroine is reborn; the hero is not, but will gradually recover some important memories from his previous life.
2. Sweet, indulgent wish-fulfillment romance. The setting is fictional, so don't scrutinize it for historical accuracy.
3. The leads are not related by blood, and everyone, including both leads, knows this from beginning to end. In their previous life, fate kept them from being together.
Theme: Love that never wavers
