Shattered Jade, Veiled Realm: Crossing Fate with Mortal Dust

In the mighty Jing Dynasty, Shen Yanci, the crippled prime minister wielding immense power, is known to all as sinister and blood-soaked, having climbed to the pinnacle of power through unscrupulous means. He is the emperor's most feared blade and the dreaded demon avoided by all court officials. Yet no one knows that his half-life of slaughter and scheming was solely to repay a life-saving kindness from his youth and to protect Su Wanyi, the daughter of a disgraced minister, hidden deep in the palace, her life as fragile as duckweed. She bears the injustice of her family's massacre, enduring in the shadows of the palace, appearing gentle and harmless but actually meticulous and proud, with hidden sharpness. As imperial power struggles, noble family conflicts, and border wars unfold, their opposing identities and fated contradictions make love an act of treason and staying together a path to clan annihilation. He cloaks himself in infamy to shield her from the world's harshness; she uses her gentle strength as a blade to accompany him in his gambles over the realm. When schemes and calculations clash with profound love, and the fate of the world entangles personal affections, they redeem each other in desperate straits, treading through thorns, ultimately breaking fate with mortal dust and covering the realm with deep affection. — Description from novelcodex.org