Jiang Xiheng was engaged to Xin Dai, a man from a family of equal standing.
Just as they were about to marry, he became embroiled in a conspiracy to usurp the throne.
Jiang Xiheng broke off the engagement without hesitation.
Later, the dynasty changed, and Xin Dai took the throne, becoming ruler of the realm.
It turned out he'd escaped successfully that day. After ascending the throne, his first decree was to summon her to the palace.
-
When they met again after so long, Jiang Xiheng spent her days anxiously trying to please him, but never managed to coax even the slightest warmth from him.
Until one day at a banquet, Xin Dai casually pointed at her. "Since the emperor of the neighboring kingdom has taken a liking to you, go serve him."
Humiliated, Jiang Xiheng finally lost all hope. In the dead of night, she faked her death and left the palace.
Later, rumors spread through the streets that the emperor had gone mad after just one year on the throne. Every day, he called out to the empress, whom only he could see, in an empty hall.
When a friend brought it up in conversation, they were baffled. The emperor had no one in his harem, not even a ghost. Where had this empress come from?
Jiang Xiheng smiled. "Yes, he's truly gone mad."
-
That year, the border was unstable. A minister came up with a plan: Xin Dai would pretend to use a consort as bait to take the opportunity to eliminate the neighboring emperor.
But when the day came to carry out the plan, Xin Dai found Jiang Xiheng collapsed in a pool of blood, her breath gone. That night, the young, cold-hearted emperor knelt in her chambers until dawn.
Xin Dai had always carried a grudge. He resented the Jiang family for standing by when his clan was falsely accused.
He tormented her day and night, believing that breaking and grinding her down would make him feel better.
But when she died in his arms, he spent the rest of his life enduring the agony of a heart being torn out.
Only then did he realize that the one he'd been breaking and grinding down all along was himself.
"I hate her, and she's the only one I love."
Notes:
1. A groveling ex-husband's redemption arc! So much angst!
2. One couple, one-on-one. The male lead has no harem. This jerk's heart is completely consumed by love and hatred for the female lead. He can't see any other woman.
Theme: As heaven moves with strength, so the noble person strives without ceasing
