In the 23rd year of the Longfeng reign, the Crown Prince of the Eastern Palace had been deposed for five years. Once a figure of otherworldly grace, he was banished to the imperial mausoleum, crushed under endless humiliation. That same year, the Emperor, blinded by the pursuit of immortality, let the West Bureau eunuchs seize power. At the helm was Xue Shu, the Chief Eunuch of the West Bureau-a man whose influence eclipsed the court, silencing opposition with a single wave of his hand.

Even the throne itself danced to his tune. Princes grovelled and schemed, desperate to curry favor, hoping he would elevate them to the imperial seat. But no one could've guessed that Xue Shu would one day retrieve the deposed Crown Prince from exile and personally help him ascend to the throne.

The once untouchable, iron-fisted eunuch, who held the empire in his grasp, willingly knelt at the feet of the resplendent new Emperor, offering himself as nothing more than a footstool.

On the eve of the enthronement ceremony, Yin Chengyu bathed and burned incense. The infamous Nine Thousand Years (Jiuqian Sui) cradled the imperial robes in his arms, personally dressing the future Emperor.

In the full-length bronze mirror, the scarlet-robed Chief Eunuch of the West Bureau wrapped his arms around the Emperor-to-be, lowering his head to breathe in his scent, his voice a husky whisper laced with a mocking smile: "Your Majesty has finally achieved your ambitions. Might you grant me the chance to fulfill mine?"

But it was all a dream.

Yin Chengyu woke, yanked from the memories of his past life. It was the 17th year of Longfeng. He was still the noble and untouchable Crown Prince. His mother's family had yet to be slaughtered, and he hadn't been confined to the mausoleum, isolated and helpless. There was still a chance to change his fate-by roping in that scheming eunuch and wagering everything on one final, desperate gamble.

Then he met Xue Shu again.
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