The Ashen Crown (灰烬之冠)

The war is over, but the true battle has just begun.

Jiāng Shàoyáng, thought lost on the northern frontier, returns to the Jade City a celebrated general. Yet victory tastes like ash-his dearest friend, Yíshā, vanished before the war only to reappear in chains at the side of Empress Jiāng Aolián.

In a single, daring stroke, Shàoyáng shatters the silence of the Vermilion Court, revealing himself as the empire's firstborn heir-long buried, long betrayed. The court reels. Aolián smiles. And in the shadows, whispers of blood begin.

Determined to claim both throne and freedom, Shàoyáng hatches a ruthless plan: eliminate every rival heir, and finally the Empress herself. One by one, the dynasty's bloodline will fall beneath his blade, until only the rightful sovereign remains.

But ambition leaves scars deeper than war. When Shàoyáng ascends the Dragon Throne, with Yíshā at his side as Grand Chancellor, the empire must ask: have they gained salvation... or merely traded one tyrant for another?

Power, betrayal, and destiny collide in a tale where crowns are forged in ash, and loyalty is worth more than blood.