Everyone says that the eldest daughter of the General’s Mansion is a refined young woman, well-versed in literature and propriety, possessing the grace befitting an empress. She was chosen by the empe
In the twenty-second year of Tianwu, the Emperor of Tianqing passed away, and the Crown Prince ascended the throne, changing the era name to Wuchang. The new emperor’s coronation was celebrated across the land, with festivities and rejoicing everywhere.
Yet amid these joyful days, within a certain mansion in the capital of Tianqing, sorrow hung heavy, and silence reigned.
Rumor had it that on the day Emperor Tianwu died, General Chu Xiong was summoned alone. After the emperor’s passing, General Chu never emerged from the palace.
It was said that General Chu had colluded with the pirates, plotting to usurp power.
“Colluding with pirates? Attempting rebellion? How utterly ridiculous.” A woman’s voice echoed in the deepest, darkest cell of the Grand Justice Prison.
Chu Junhan, the sole blood heir of the Chu family. Born to be Crown Princess, the envy of all. Now, with the Crown Prince newly crowned, she had fallen to the rank of prisoner—what an irony.
Her father’s title as founding general had destined her for a position beyond the reach of most.
Yet now, her hair was disheveled, her prison clothes filthy and tattered—perhaps even the jailers could not recall how many criminals had worn this garb.
The man the Chu family had dedicated themselves to supporting had, in the end, become their harbinger of doom—how bitterly ironic.
Chu Junhan knelt in a wretched posture on the damp, cold floor of her cell, her gaze vacant and unfocused. She refused to believe, could not bear to believe, that the man for whom the Chu family ha