A Lifetime Left Beneath the Frosted Eaves

In the peaceful Great Jing, the deep courtyards of noble houses have always concealed the world's cold indifference.

Shen Qingyan, the eldest daughter born outside the main line of the Minister of Personnel's household, lost her mother young and had to live under another's roof. She endured the harsh treatment of her stepmother and the schemes of her half-sister, keeping her head down at every turn. Skilled in medicine and incense, with a calm and thoughtful nature, all she wanted was a quiet life. Yet her family still used her as a pawn: someone else took her betrothal, leaving her trapped in dire straits.

They say Regent Xiao Jinheng is ruthless and cold, a power unto himself at court and a solitary minister standing at the pinnacle of Great Jing. Having seen how self-interest rules the human heart, he trusts no kindness in this world. After a lifetime of upheaval and hardship, he walks alone.

The two meet by chance at a crabapple blossom banquet in late spring.

With nowhere else to turn, she asks him for a deal that will keep them in check. He watches with cold detachment, taking it for nothing more than a trivial game.

They begin as two people using each other, bound together by pretense.

But amid the storms of the inner court and the raging tides of the imperial court, they meet in danger time and again. The tenderness hidden in silent glances and the small moments of daily life quietly begins to thaw the ice.

He is accustomed to controlling the realm, yet makes exception after exception for her, concealing his private affection in quiet acts of protection;

Her heart has long been covered in frost, yet in his lonely, cold eyes she finds a place where she can lay her heart to rest.

Schemes within the household, conflicts at court, old unjust cases buried in the past, and rumors pouring down like a flood: between them stand the constraints of the great clans and the barriers of imperial power.

From testing and exploiting each other to falling secretly in love; from facing storms side by side to entrusting each other with their lives.

Only in the end do they learn that no amount of power or splendor can compare to sharing a lifetime beneath one roof.

Frost falls upon the layered eaves. I entrust the rest of my life to you.