“Help me burn the throne instead,” Shen Zhao whispered.
But in the quiet of the new palace, Bai Yu whispered to the young emperor: “You used me, Your Majesty.” qiang jin jiu novel english translation
In the storm-lashed capital of Huayan, the young prince Shen Zhao returned from exile—not with armies, but with a single scroll. Three years prior, his family was framed for treason; his father executed, his mother driven to suicide. Now, the usurper emperor offered him a minor post as a librarian, thinking him broken. “Help me burn the throne instead,” Shen Zhao whispered
Shen Zhao turned, eyes like winter stars. “And you let me. That is the only truth between us.” Now, the usurper emperor offered him a minor
Thus began a game of silk and steel—each move a kiss or a knife. Shen Zhao would seduce the emperor’s daughter; Bai Yu would poison the emperor’s tea taster. They betrayed and saved each other in the same breath, until the night of the lantern festival, when Shen Zhao stood before the throne with a smile and a blade.
But Shen Zhao had learned patience in the northern marshes. He also had learned that the emperor’s most feared spymaster, a eunuch named Bai Yu, was not a monster but a man with his own secret: a younger brother held hostage in the palace dungeons.
“Because your brother is dying of consumption in those cells,” Shen Zhao said. “And I have the only antidote.”