Spring Stars on Palace Steps

In her previous life, Shen Xingyi devised plans for Li Zhan, the disgraced crown prince, and stayed by his side throughout. He ascended the throne, while she became a femme fatale who brought ruin to the country and died with a heart full of resentment.

Reborn, she stayed away from the cold-hearted crown prince and helped her father and brothers rise to prominence. But at the Imperial Academy, she encountered Cui Rong as he had been in his youth.

In her previous life, he had wielded power over the court and used ruthless methods, earning everyone's fear.

She and he had gone from teacher and student supporting one another, to adversaries locked in a battle of wits, and finally to strangers divided by life and death.

Teacher and student? Sworn enemies?

The karma of their past lives seemed like a dream upon waking.

But Shen Xingyi always remembered those days when she first met him in the imperial palace. She and Cui Rong stood together on the palace steps, gazing up at the pitch-black spring night sky... The scattered stars were swallowed by darkness, but he looked up with a smile and said there was no need to fear the night. Even a lone star could shine with boundless brilliance.

As the Emperor's tutor, he became a light, illuminating countless lives that should have slowly faded away.

And she was merely the most insignificant of them all.

Reunited in another life, he was still young, once invincible in her previous life but now despised by his father, rejected by his teacher, and trapped in a long, dark night. She wanted to become a ray of light for him, just as he had once sheltered her in the depths of the palace.

At first, Shen Xingyi only wanted to give him a hand. She never expected that in this life, he would protect her fiercely and guide her step by step to the pinnacle of power.

When Cui Rong played the game of strategy, he always placed his pieces with composure and grace. Even when his opponent was the supreme ruler, he would hold her hand firmly as they won the match together.

*

In his previous life, Li Zhan stopped at nothing to gain power. He reached the peak, only to lose the one he loved. In this life... he came for her, only to watch helplessly as she married someone else.

Together, husband and wife took everything that had once belonged to him.

On the Lantern Festival night, after repelling foreign enemies and settling domestic affairs, the powerful minister adored by the whole realm held an umbrella over his wife. The two of them ascended a dazzling tower in Chang'an together, while Li Zhan gazed up at the pair beneath the lights from below.

She smiled at the husband beside her, with a world of lantern-lit splendor behind them. There was not a trace of him in her eyes.

Reading tips:

1. The male lead's story is about healing, while the second male lead's story is about winning her back. Important: The crown prince is not the male lead.

2. The male and female leads had a brief teacher-student relationship in their previous lives. There were no romantic feelings between them while that relationship lasted. In this life, the leads team up to slay the dragon.

Theme: Because I've been caught in the rain, I want to hold an umbrella for others.