A fake princess who uses herself as a chess piece x a sickly strategist who manipulates the political landscape
She wants him dead with all her heart x he wants to kiss her with all his heart
The thing Zheng Yinxi regretted most before she died was not killing the strategist by Crown Prince Brother's side sooner.
He was scheming and as clever as a demon. He had nearly seen through her identity before she even arrived in the capital. They were at odds, clashing at every turn.
Yet he won her brother's deep trust, secretly colluded with the Third Prince, and thwarted her brother's chances of becoming Crown Prince time and again, ruining her plans to save her family along with him.
Her ambushes, assassination attempts, and poisonings all failed. With no other choice, she smeared poison on her lips and forced him to take it, fighting back her disgust.
Afraid of poisoning herself, Zheng Yinxi didn't use a deadly poison that would kill on contact. She had also taken an antidote in advance, planning to administer small doses over time and watch Song Jingyun die with her own eyes.
But before Song Jingyun showed any signs of poisoning, the Third Prince stormed into the Golden Throne Hall. Crown Prince Brother was killed, and Zheng Yinxi was left with nowhere to turn. Determined to drag Song Jingyun down with her, she yanked him over to shield herself from an arrow flying straight at her.
Zheng Yinxi never expected Song Jingyun to be so frail. With just a little force, she flung him away, and the arrow pierced her heart without missing its mark.
The thing Zheng Yinxi regretted most before she died was not killing Song Jingyun sooner.
She closed her eyes, then opened them again, reborn before any of it had happened.
Clutching her chest, Zheng Yinxi laughed coldly. Ignoring her brother's objections and her servants' tearful pleas, she personally brought a cup of poisoned wine to Song Jingyun.
Reborn, Song Jingyun looked down at the poison wine reflecting his pale face, then up at Zheng Yinxi's lips, bare of rouge. He looked utterly confused. Why had she changed her method of poisoning him?
*
After his master died, Song Jingyun descended the mountain with a letter of introduction.
He had been ordered to assist the legitimate Crown Prince, who had been living in exile and was now returning to the capital.
Knowing his body was frail and he had little time left, he cast aside all worldly things and human attachments. Amid the blades of all the competing factions, he treated everyone, himself included, as a chess piece.
As he used his dying body to settle every debt on the day of the coup, Song Jingyun never expected to return to the beginning, to the day he first descended the mountain.
The scenery was unchanged, and so was the political situation. Only the princess, who had once hated him with all her heart, no longer fed him poison with her own lips.
At first, Song Jingyun thought this was for the best. They could go their separate ways, sparing themselves a great deal of trouble.
Later, they fell out and laid all their grievances and schemes bare. He tried every way he could to persuade her not to go to her death.
Later still, Zheng Yinxi volunteered to marry into the Northern Rong court. When he heard the news, he immediately spat out a mouthful of blood and rode a thousand miles to catch up with her, just to tell her, "Cutting off your feet to fit your shoes will never end well."
Then Zheng Yinxi's identity was exposed, and she faked her death to escape. As the court fell apart and the realm descended into chaos, he worked alone to keep things from collapsing. Two years later, in the northern borderlands, he finally pinned her struggling form into the snow, coughing as he threatened her harshly: "Either come back with me, or we'll be buried here together!"
Song Jingyun thought bitterly that he had to live a long time, long enough to solve every problem here, and then make sure Zheng Yinxi never had the chance to choose anyone else.
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Blurb written on 2025/6/6, with additions on 2026/3/23. Both dates are documented.
Theme: When a single thought is restrained, all goodness gathers.
