Everyone in the palace knows that the Emperor dotes on the Eldest Princess.

Even though the Eldest Princess is arrogant and disrespectful towards the Empress, Li Huaiyan never blames her.

It's because they have been dependent on each other since childhood.

Li Huaiyan's birth mother was a lowly foot-washing maid, favored by the late Emperor when he was drunk.

Unexpectedly, she became pregnant, so Li Huaiyan was abandoned in the cold palace right after birth.

When Li Huaiyan was five, he met Li Siyao, who was also neglected.

The winters in the cold palace in the capital were the hardest, and they could only keep warm by huddling together.

As they grew older, they were taken out of the cold palace.

But the noble princes and princesses treated them as playthings.

They endured humiliation, found solace in each other, and without each other, they would have ended their lives long ago.

Later, after the late Emperor's death, the princes fought fiercely, while Li Huaiyan bided his time for years and finally succeeded in ascending the throne.

The palace corridors ran with blood, as young men and women held swords and embraced each other.