Cheng Jiao was born into a lowly station, an abandoned girl raised by an old woman who made her living scavenging.
But Cheng Jiao was an optimist by nature, sweet and lovely, with a dimpled smile that made people want to cherish her.
When Cheng Jiao was fifteen, she was nearly beaten to death by ruffians. At that critical moment, a young nobleman saved her. It was snowing that day. He carried her on his back for a long, long way down Chang'an Street. Someone's blood ran onto the ground, mingling with the snow before slowly freezing.
She was a beggar who followed the old woman from place to place, begging for alms. She had not read many books, but she knew the young nobleman was as graceful as an orchid or jade tree, and peerlessly handsome.
That day, she hated herself once more for having read so little, unable to find the words to describe her joy.
*
When they met again, her old woman had been murdered by ruffians. The killers were powerful and influential, and with nowhere else to turn, Cheng Jiao went to the Crown Prince and offered herself to him.
Within the deep palace, she was led into the lavish Eastern Palace. The man sat high upon the dais, untouched by wind or snow, his whole bearing noble and refined. He tapped his long fingers against the sandalwood table and lifted his eyelids slightly.
"Orphaned Cheng Jiao, you seem to have a remarkably tough fate. Tell me, should I grant your request?"
His gaze was cold and indifferent. There was not a trace of the brightness he'd shown that afternoon.
Cheng Jiao looked up at the man on the dais and realized he was the young nobleman who had once saved her.
But now he was cold and aloof, like snow atop a mountain.
*
Cheng Jiao thought Yin Zhuo would remember their past and help clear her name, but she was wrong. He was ruthless and merciless, a man without a shred of compassion or loyalty.
She became a swallow in his cage, an object in his palm. Yet aside from what he said in bed, he never had a kind word for her.
Cheng Jiao grew furious. She packed her things and prepared to leave the Eastern Palace, but he seized her chin with a vicious, menacing grip and berated her. "A-Jiao, don't you love me anymore? You want to leave the Eastern Palace? Did I give you permission? Have I spoiled you too much?"
"A-Jiao, wouldn't it be good to become my secondary consort?"
Cheng Jiao turned away from him and spoke softly. "Your Highness, you think far too highly of yourself. A-Jiao doesn't love you! And A-Jiao knows her station is low. I'd rather be a poor man's wife than a nobleman's concubine. That's my bottom line!"
"A-Jiao can tell the difference between a transaction and reality. Between us, there's only a transaction!"
*
Later, A-Jiao ran away, intending to marry a poor scholar from some remote backwater. On the day Yin Zhuo ascended the throne, he abandoned his coronation ceremony and rushed a thousand li to her. In front of the poor scholar, he pulled the young woman into his arms. "A-Jiao, I'll give you the position of Empress. Will you have it?"
Theme: Love is the weight of life.
