In the eighteenth year of Yongtai, Northern Han and Southern Yan were locked in fierce battle along the border.
Then one day, Southern Yan's military intelligence was leaked. Northern Han suffered a crushing defeat, and the situation could no longer be turned around.
Crown Prince Qi Ye discovered that his Crown Princess, Li Qingli, was the culprit who had leaked the military intelligence.
The Qi dynasty, which had ruled the southern lands for three hundred years, had reached the end of its fate.
As he lay dying, he hated her with all his heart.
"If there is another life, I will never choose you as my Crown Princess again."
"Your Highness, I didn't... I really didn't..."
No matter how many times Li Qingli told him she hadn't done it, he refused to believe her.
Reborn, Qi Ye made careful plans at every turn, traveling as an envoy to Northern Han and arranging a marriage alliance.
Li Qingli thought he had lost his memories of his previous life after being reborn. But on their wedding night, he was no longer the gentle man he'd been in that life. "Qing'er, I actually remember everything from our previous life."
During the palace coup that followed, she took a blade for him, but he abandoned her. "Let her die. There's no need to save her."
His words were icy and piercing. Only then did she finally see the truth.
When the truth came to light, he realized he had hated the wrong person.
But all his regret was useless, because he had personally offered her to the King of Eastern Yue as a bargaining chip to maintain peace between the two countries.
Later, when Southern Yan was defeated by Eastern Yue, he knelt before her, dressed in splendid finery, in full view of all the soldiers, begging for her forgiveness.
Content warnings:
1. One-on-one romance, happy ending, single-couple relationship
2. The male lead has a secondary consort, but they never sleep together
3. Includes plotlines involving muteness and amnesia
4. Alternate history, melodramatic angst. Don't scrutinize the logic too closely.
Theme: She is the cinnabar mark in his heart.
