1. Black-hearted Prince of Huainan x the Bright Moonlight, Princess Anping
2. Court conspiracies / Three Kingdoms-inspired setting / Some fantasy elements / Revenge / Corruption / Redemption
3. Alternate history: Liang, Qin, and Qi
4. Happy ending
5. Related work: The Island Where Whales Fall
Blurb:
The world was divided into three kingdoms, with Liang the weakest. Yet Liang had an extraordinary woman named Shen Chi, courtesy name Wanning.
Shen Chi accompanied her father, Shen Yi, to the battlefield at age ten and won countless military honors. By thirteen, she was known as the "God of War."
After a great victory in the Battle for the Throne, Shen Chi returned to the palace, where she unexpectedly came across Princess Anping, Yan Cong'an, crouched in the snow and sobbing.
She had seen plenty of people cry and should have coldly ignored her. But for some reason, Shen Chi held out her hand to Yan Cong'an and pulled her into her arms.
From that day on, Shen Chi had a little shadow she couldn't shake. Wherever she went, Yan Cong'an followed.
They admired each other. They loved each other...
But one day, the words "Surround and destroy Prince of Huainan Shen Yi" tore Shen Chi's family apart. She was imprisoned, had her eyes gouged out and her fingers chopped off... She was reduced to fighting pigs for scraps.
"A-Chi, I've come to save you."
She was kept under house arrest in Yan Cong'an's chambers.
After four years of enduring humiliation, Shen Chi was utterly corrupted. She not only exploited Yan Cong'an's feelings, but also raised an army in Huainan and attacked Liang, determined to offer the blood of Liang's emperor as a sacrifice to the spirits of her dead family.
Bonus scene:
"Cong'an..." Covered in wounds, Shen Chi knelt on both knees, blood spilling from her mouth. She raised her head to gaze at the tearful Yan Cong'an. Her hand tightened around the blade, and her weak voice was heartbreakingly pitiful. "Do... do it..."
"No!" Yan Cong'an cried, shaking her head as she tried to pull the sword back.
Shen Chi smiled helplessly, gazing at her with boundless tenderness. "Only if I die can you survive."
With that, Shen Chi gripped the blade tightly and drove it hard into her own heart.
Blood gushed out at once, mingling with the rain and staining the execution platform crimson.
"A-Chi!" Yan Cong'an screamed at the top of her lungs, then held Shen Chi tightly as tears fell.
"Cong'an... You have to... You have to live on for both of us..." Shen Chi reached out a long, bloodstained hand, trying to touch Yan Cong'an's tear-streaked face.
But she was too tired. Just as her fingertips were about to brush Yan Cong'an's cheek, her hand fell heavily to the ground, splashing blood.
"Please don't leave me..."
I'm begging you...
Yan Cong'an's lips met her pale ones in a kiss.
Theme: Light and darkness, they chose a path of no return
