After two lifetimes of betrayal, war, and political schemes, does anyone in Ashes to Crown (翘楚) truly get a happy ending? The hit drama starring Chen Duling (陈都灵) has viewers racing through every episode as Chu Zhao (楚朝) wakes from her first death and immediately fights to change her fate. But the original novel’s ending is far more brutal than what the screen shows so far.
While one couple walks away into the wilderness with a daughter, others rot in isolated villages or lie trapped inside their own broken bodies. Here is how the four key men in Chu Zhao’s life meet their ends — and why the smartest one suffers the worst.
A Quiet Life
Chu Zhao lives two full lives. In her first, she dies as an empress, betrayed by those closest to her. But as she takes her last breath, she sees Xie Yanlai (谢燕来) kill the traitor Xiao Xun (萧珣) for her sake. That single act plants a seed of trust. When she wakes up again, she gives him her complete faith without hesitation. He earns it quickly. After her father falls ill, she tries to sneak back to Yunzhong (云中) Commandery alone. Xiao Xun’s men ambush her, but Xie Yanlai appears and cuts her free. Blood and shared danger bind them fast.
Yet wanting to stay together is not the same as being allowed to. Outside the border, the Shuomo (朔漠) nomads sharpen their blades. Inside the court, Xiao Xun waits for one wrong move to launch his rebellion. A child emperor sits on the throne, helpless. Chu Zhao and Xie Yanlai understand that love comes second. First, they must secure the kingdom. She leads the army herself. He matches her courage with clever tactics. Together, they crush the border chaos. Then Xiao Xun finally raises his flags. Chu Zhao rides to war again. Xie Yanlai’s border troops break in from the outside. They trap the rebels between two fires. Xiao Xun falls by Xie Yanlai’s own hand.
With both external enemies and internal snakes dead, the couple disappears into a remote border prefecture. No grand palace. No crown. Chu Zhao gives birth to a daughter and names her Chu Qiqi (楚柒柒). Many in the original story expected her to become empress again — or something even greater. She once told the young emperor, “I have many ways to turn you into my puppet. I choose not to.” Power rots most people. But Chu Zhao keeps her original heart. That is why she can finally rest beside the man who killed for her.
Two Lost Men
Xiao Xun was born a royal. His ambition touched the sky. He wanted the highest seat, and he used Chu Zhao as a ladder. He killed the third prince, the crown prince, and the crown princess without blinking. When his first coup failed, he did something worse: he sold out his own country. He invited the Shuomo nomads to tear the realm apart in exchange for their help. A man like that deserves nothing but total ruin. His name turns to mud. His body becomes a warning.
Then there is Deng Yi (邓弈). At first, he serves Xiao Xun. On the night of the palace coup, he guards the old emperor for his master. But Chu Zhao whispers two words — “merit of supporting the new dragon” — and Deng Yi opens the gate. After the child emperor takes the throne, Deng Yi becomes the Grand Tutor. But loyalty never sticks to him. He keeps watching both sides. He helps Xiao Xun escape the capital. When Chu Zhao returns from the border and rules behind the curtain, their conflict boils over. They break completely.
Chu Zhao tries to put Deng Yi under house arrest. But Xiao Xun snatches him away. From that moment, Deng Yi belongs to the rebellion fully. He waves the late emperor’s supposed final decree, the jade seal, and the tiger-shaped tally to legitimize Xiao Xun’s army. After the rebellion collapses, soldiers drag Deng Yi in secret to a mountain bandit village on the border. There he lives out his remaining years — not as a noble, but as a village schoolteacher. No power. No schemes. Just dusty books and children who will never know his crimes.
His Cage
Xie Yanfang (谢燕芳) is the most ambitious of all four men. He starts by marrying his sister to the crown prince. Then he props up Chu Zhao to steady the court. For years, he and Deng Yi balance each other like two weights on a scale. But Xie Yanfang has a vision. He wants to mold Chu Zhao into his ideal empress — not for her sake, but for his own design. After Xiao Xun’s rebellion ends, Chu Zhao announces her plan to retire from the capital. Xie Yanfang refuses to accept it.
He fabricates a bandit suppression mission. Under that cover, he mobilizes his private army to surround Chu Zhao’s forces. His real target? Mu Mianhong (木棉红) and her people. He wants to burn every bridge behind Chu Zhao so she has no way out but to stay under his control. But Chu Zhao is not a fool. She has prepared. She tries to kill Xie Yanfang with a poisoned brush — a quiet, elegant assassination. He sees through it. Then both sides clash. Steel meets steel. In the chaos, Xie Yanlai stabs his own brother.
Even then, Xie Yanfang refuses to lose. To trap Xie Yanlai and Chu Zhao, he wounds himself — deliberately, deeply. The self-inflicted strike damages his heart and lungs. After that day, he can only stay conscious for half an hour each morning. The rest of the time, he drifts. He cannot leave his bed. A single draft of wind makes him cough blood. Sunlight burns his eyes. He spends the rest of his life as a prisoner in the Chu family compound — alive, but barely. Of the four men who circled Chu Zhao, Xie Yanfang ends up the most broken. No freedom. No health. No throne. Just a bed, four walls, and the long, slow death of a man who wanted everything and got nothing but his own cage.