Ashes to Crown

In her first life, Chu Zhao was a pawn. The only daughter of a border general, she was lured to the capital by the charming Prince Xiao Xun, who swore he loved her. She believed him, married him, and helped him seize the throne, becoming his Empress. Then he slaughtered her entire family and poisoned her in the cold palace. As she lay dying, she learned the truth — her mother had given her life trying to save her, her father's army had been destroyed from within, and every moment of her marriage had been a calculated lie. Now she opens her eyes on the eve of that same wedding. This time, Chu Zhao runs. She flees the capital under cover of darkness, heading for the frontier. Along the way, she meets a young soldier at a remote outpost — Xie Yanlai, a castoff son of a noble house, hiding under a false name. He's sharp, dangerous, and loyal to no one. Until her. Together, they claw their way from the margins of an empire into its very center. She rescues the young crown prince, brokers alliances, outmaneuvers court rivals, and earns the title of Grand Princess Regent — ruling from behind the throne she once died on. But Xiao Xun hasn't given up. He rallies foreign armies, burns border cities, and will drag the entire nation into fire before he lets a dead woman's ghost take what he believes is his. In her first life, she was his queen. In this life, she will be the one who ends him. The story begins at the North Cao Town posthouse, where several posthouse soldiers encounter a girl asking for help.