I am Shen Huiyin, the legitimate daughter of the Defender General. On the day I entered the palace, everyone said I was sure to be the next empress. When the Ministry of Rites announced the candidates, he sat high upon the vermilion steps and named Lu Qingrang, the chief minister's legitimate daughter, as empress. I was given only the lowest rank of concubine. I knelt below the palace steps without shedding a tear. That night, he summoned me, but left me waiting alone in a side hall until dawn, then rewarded me with nothing but a box of silk. Only after I found half a crumpled sheet of paper in his overturned sedan chair did I understand. My name was written on it, with two words beside it: Empress. I put the paper back where I found it and removed my golden hairpin before the mirror. I'm done playing along with you all in this imperial harem.
This novel and its characters are entirely fictional. Any resemblance to real people or events is purely coincidental. Do not imitate.
