After Northern Liang's defeat, Princess Jiang Ning was sent to Great Jing as a tribute bride, becoming Emperor Xiao Yu's bedmate. She appears gentle and obedient, but is actually a secret pawn of Northern Liang, tasked with stealing military maps and poisoning the emperor. Xiao Yu fought his way to the throne amid fierce struggles among the princes. Hating deception above all else, he has only ever been intimate with Jiang Ning, repeatedly testing her, yet she always manages to fool him with her acting. When her personal maid, Xiao Tao, is beaten to death, Jiang Ning's heart turns cold, and she resolves to poison him. On a night in Blackwater River Valley, Xiao Yu knowingly drinks the poison anyway. 'When has Ning'er ever deceived A-Yu?' With a blade pressed against his heart, she ultimately cannot bring herself to strike. Three years later, he sits alone in the royal city with silver hair, while she finishes the final stitch for her mother. After his plaything dies, the tyrant goes completely mad! He lets her go, yet locks her away in an empty palace.