Hidden Jade Beneath the Northern Snow

Eight years ago, the daughter of the legendary General Zhou Yanyun lost absolutely everything.

After her father vanished without a trace, he was branded a traitor to the empire. Overnight, Zhou Ningli was stripped of her family, her noble status, and her home. Forced to flee from her remaining relatives and leave the capital far behind, she has been trying to survive in the remote town of Sanyuan, living under a false identity.
But her quiet life shatters the day a severely wounded stranger collapses on her doorstep. Playing a dangerous, selfish game of her own, Ningli tells a lie that will change her destiny forever she claims this unknown man is her husband.

Little does she know, the stranger is no ordinary traveler.

Cold, terrifyingly sharp, and born to rule, he agrees to play along with her deception without demanding answers. To the rest of the world, he becomes Gong Ziyu, a wealthy scholar from the capital and her deeply devoted husband. But behind that gentle mask hides a man whose true name could shake the very foundations of the empire.

As Ningli tries to unravel why he willingly stepped into her trap, she accidentally stumbles upon a clue one that connects her late father to the mysterious death of the former statesman, Wei Jian. Her search for the truth slowly drags her into a deadly web of political conspiracies, missing imperial gold, old betrayals, and dark secrets that lead straight back to the bloody coup from eight years ago.