In the twilight years of the Northern Song Dynasty, the Imperial Palace gleams with gold but bleeds secrets beneath its silken splendor.
Yan Qingshi, the beautiful son of a disgraced official, hides among the eunuchs in the inner palace, his true identity buried beneath layers of obedience and silence. Gifted with a face that tempts fate and a mind sharper than any blade, Qingshi survives in the shadows, gathering whispers like a spider weaves its web.
Li Shen, the Emperor’s most loyal shadow guard, is cold, precise, and unflinching—until he is ordered to eliminate the rumored traitor hidden among the harem. When he finds Qingshi instead, hesitation blooms where suspicion should be, and desire coils like smoke between them.
Bound by duty, haunted by past betrayals, and drawn together by a dangerous pull neither can resist, the two men walk a tightrope between love and ruin. In a world where affection is a crime and betrayal wears a crown, how long can silken chains hold before they snap?