Jiang Qizhen, the legitimate daughter of the Marquis's household, was as beautiful as an immortal and renowned as the capital's foremost beauty.
Her life was peaceful and smooth. Her family doted on her, and she shared her ambitions with her friends. Not long ago, an imperial edict had bestowed upon her a marriage everyone envied.
Her betrothed was a member of the imperial clan, a man who called the new emperor his imperial uncle and enjoyed the emperor's deep trust.
On the day she returned to her family home after the wedding, a sudden downpour soaked her and her husband. Embarrassed and annoyed, she was pressed beneath a flower trellis beside a rockery.
Through the misty rain, a figure slowly approached.
Qizhen opened her eyes, a faint unease stirring within her.
A man stood beneath the moon gate. His features were handsome and refined, but a flash of sickly malice in his eyes frightened her into shrinking against her husband's chest, cold sweat pouring down her body.
Later, she learned that the new emperor had gone out in disguise and was staying at the marquis's estate.
That night, Jiang Qizhen knelt and smashed her forehead against the ground, but she was still forced into a carriage.
*
The late emperor died suddenly, and the Ninth Prince ascended the throne.
The new emperor had grown up in the sanctified grounds of a Buddhist temple, keeping clear of worldly affairs with his senses untainted. Against all expectations, he emerged victorious in the struggle for the throne.
Yet a year after ascending the throne, his harem remained empty.
The Empress Dowager and the court officials were frantic, but the new emperor remained unmoved. He would not even show his face, and instead arranged marriages for every woman selected to enter the palace, including Jiang Qizhen, the capital's foremost beauty.
One day, as the new emperor passed the marquis's estate, he suddenly felt feverish and parched. An alluring, intimate image of a woman appeared before his eyes.
He followed the vision. The rose trellis trembled, and the woman gazed with rippling springtime warmth in her eyes as she clung to a man and kissed him. Then her eyes met his unexpectedly.
He heard that she was the legitimate daughter of the marquis's household, deeply in love with her nephew and happily married to him.
At the banquet, the husband and wife knelt together to thank the emperor for his favor.
The new emperor's gaze settled on the slender, trembling back of the newlywed woman.
At night, in the forbidden depths of the palace, a carriage rattled along the palace lanes.
The new emperor lit incense before the memorial tablet of his deceased wife, his eyes dark. “Zhen'er, I've found you.”
Behind him, the woman who had smiled brightly that day stood with her black hair unbound and blood congealing on her forehead. She raised her dark, luminous eyes and called him Imperial Uncle.
Every word was a cry of blood as she begged him to let her go.
[Reading Guide]
1. The male lead is reborn in the body of the Ninth Prince and retains his memories of his past life. The second male lead is the male lead's true present-day self and has no memories of his past life. As a result, the male lead and second male lead share feelings. The female lead is reborn without her memories, but will remember her past life later.
2. The female lead and male leads are both virgins, in their past and present lives alike.
Theme: Persevere and never forget your original aspirations
