Courtyard Games

According to popular rumor, Emperor Wu Rong Quewei, the founding emperor of the Li Dynasty, had four men in her life.

The first was the consort fate had destined for her, said to be protected by the Purple Star.

The second was her fifth imperial brother, who loved her deeply and steadied the realm with his sword.

The third was General Wei, her childhood friend, who rode his horse across Yanping.

The fourth was a foreign celestial master, a victim of fate's cruel twists, who slit his own throat.

The one who stood beside Emperor Wu in the end was the consort she had married when she was still a princess: Bo Su, the Li Dynasty's second emperor, known as the "Sage Emperor."

It was said that General Wei Yaozhi, Emperor Wu's childhood friend, left worldly life behind after unifying the realm and spent half his life as a monk, praying only to deliver one woman from suffering.

The celestial master sacrificed himself to Heaven, securing a thirty-year truce between the northern frontier and the Central Plains. After the Central Plains were united, the Sage Emperor opened trade routes far and wide, and north and south enjoyed a century of peace.

Everyone said that Emperor Wu was ruthless and decisive, cruel and heartless in her youth. But if asked whom she cared for most, the answer might have been the Sage Emperor Bo Su, General Wei Yaozhi, or the late celestial master Da Zhi.

In the end, all anyone heard was that her life lamp had grown dim. On the brink of death, she held the hand of the Sage Emperor, still her male empress, and wrote her final decree: "When I die, carry my coffin to the southwestern mausoleum and bury me in the same tomb as my imperial brother."

There was another rumor: "The Wu imperial clan owed the Wei family a great debt. In her later years, Emperor Wu went to the Temple of Karma, where General Wei had become a nun, and entered nirvana alongside him."

And the story told among the people of the northern frontier went: "Emperor Wu kept the promise she made beneath the eternal sky and followed the celestial master Da Zhi in death."

The ruler of Chen was killed in battle, and Empress Chen burned herself to death in the palace. Power in Chen fell into the hands of a woman hidden deep within the palace. Corrupt officials ruled, and the people lived in misery.

Bo Su was the Crown Prince of Chen, and a prisoner confined to Xiangdong Prefecture in the state of Yi. He had seen little sunlight in Chen. In his life, he had seen two lights brighter than any others: one in Wa'er Village, and one in Xiangdong Prefecture.

The person who gave him light was Rong Quewei, the seventh princess of Yi.

Bo Su: "What did you think when you first saw me on our wedding day?"

Rong Quewei: "That you'd gotten even thinner."

Bo Su: "Do you know what I thought when I first saw you? I wondered if you'd kill me. Even if you didn't, would you keep me as your plaything, lock me up, torment me, make me wish I were dead, and never let me leave you?"

Rong Quewei: "Is that how you see me, as a vile and malicious person?"

Bo Su: "That's exactly how you looked at me the first time we met."

Rong Quewei: "Was my gaze so lecherous?"

Bo Su said firmly, "That's what you did in Wa'er Village. You kept me by your side every single day, looked at my body, slept in my bed, teased me, and even fed me medicine one spoonful at a time. When I refused to drink fish soup, you got upset and took it out on the vegetables. I was too embarrassed to say it then, but you could take your anger out on me. I wanted you to touch me."

Rong Quewei: "How did I touch you?"

Bo Su: "Like this..." (Ten thousand words omitted.)

Rong Quewei: "You really aren't innocent. You're so beautiful, and you fit my tastes perfectly. I like you. People say the Purple Star protects your life, yet you had such a miserable time in the Eastern Palace. Your luck can't be all that good. Chen treated you badly, so how about I have Yi's army conquer Chen? With the ruler of Chen dead, you'd be the rightful new ruler. I'd gladly trample the Central Plains flat. When I unite the four kingdoms, I want to meet you on the battlefield and see you full of confidence."

Bo Su: "You keep driving me away, Your Highness. I'm truly glad I came to Yi as a hostage and became your consort. I don't want to be your enemy. I only want to be your husband."

[Reader's Guide]

1. Main couple: Rong Quewei x Bo Su

2. A little political intrigue, palace secrets, jianghu, intertwined vendettas, a cold-blooded and irresistible heroine, and a seemingly innocent, seductive hero.

Theme: Born human, live toward the light.