In her previous life, Wen Beichen saved Li Xunling in a time of crisis, then fought her way back to the capital with her and helped her claim the throne. Wen Beichen thought they cherished and trusted each other, but never imagined that Li Xunling had fallen in love with her.
She gained power over the court and became regent, accomplishing many things for the good of the people, yet people slandered her as a corrupt official who used her beauty to serve the ruler.
The woman she loved kept her distance because of Li Xunling and married someone else.
Li Xunling treated her well for a lifetime, but Wen Beichen never paid her any attention.
When she gets a second chance at life and returns to the time before she saved Li Xunling, she grits her teeth. “This time, I’ll find someone else to save her. Let’s see how she falls in love with me.” They would be sovereign and subject, confidantes, but never lovers.
But when Li Xunling truly treats her as a subject and a confidante, Wen Beichen ends up prostrating herself at her feet, weeping and begging her to fall in love with her.
This is Wen Beichen’s own path to winning back her love, her very own road to ruin.
When it comes to saving Li Xunling, Wen Beichen brings along her junior brother and junior sister.
They’re both good-looking and have very different personalities, so they can satisfy Li Xunling’s every preference.
She’ll just stay in the background and won’t compete for the chance to save her.
Her junior brother receives a luminous pearl sent as tribute from the Western Regions. “Senior Sister, look at this pearl. It’s so big and smooth. I love treasures like this.”
Wen Beichen looks up. It’s the luminous pearl she used to keep by her desk for light in her previous life.
Her junior sister receives a Longquan sword. “Senior Sister, look at my sword. It can slice through iron like mud. It was a reward from the princess.”
Wen Beichen’s eyelid twitches. That was her sword in her previous life. Seeing something that used to belong to her in someone else’s hands leaves her feeling unsettled.
She snatches the Longquan sword and the luminous pearl.
When it comes to meeting again...
In her previous life, Li Xunling went to great lengths to see her, using banquets, injuries, gifts, and all sorts of excuses. She would knock on the Wen family’s door with a jug of wine in hand and ask, “Beichen, I found this century-old vintage especially for you. Will you share a cup with me?”
In this life, after Li Xunling takes office, she summons Wen Beichen only when she has official business.
One day, Wen Beichen suddenly goes to the princess’s residence. She has poisoned herself and bows before Li Xunling. “Your Highness, I heard that your residence has a thousand-year-old snow lotus. I have come to ask for medicine.”
No one knows that she poisoned herself.
As for the position of empress, the laws of the Great Qi state that an empress cannot bear children, so a woman must be appointed empress.
In her previous life, Li Xunling asked her to enter the inner palace, but Wen Beichen refused.
In this life, after Li Xunling ascends the throne, she prepares to select an empress according to the law.
Those who want to serve as officials, those who have someone they love, and only daughters are all excluded. The Ministry of Rites hurriedly selects twenty portraits and presents them to Li Xunling.
As a close attendant to the emperor, Wen Beichen kneels at Li Xunling’s feet with her own portrait in hand. “Your subject requests... permission to be considered for the position of empress.”
What pains Wen Beichen isn’t that Li Xunling doesn’t love her. What pains her is that, in Li Xunling’s heart, there is no reason for her love, and no reason for Wen Beichen’s kindness.
She wants to atone, but there is no crime to confess.
Theme: Treasure the person in front of you.
