In the twenty-seventh year of Dashun, the Crown Prince of Great Zhou rebelled. He confessed his crimes and was executed. No one in the Eastern Palace or the empress’s maternal family, the Lin clan, was spared. Within days, the capital ran with blood, and everyone lived in fear. Three months later, Princess Anning, Bai Wanyu, the crown prince’s younger sister, took her own life at the Prince of Pingxi’s residence. With her death, the empress’s family had no descendants left.
When she opened her eyes again, everything had changed. Bai Wanyu was no longer Great Zhou’s most cherished princess, but Shen Nianyao, the legitimate daughter of the chancellor’s household.
Three years ago, she had been a princess of the royal house, the sole wife of the Prince of Pingxi’s eldest son, cherished by her birth family and adored by her husband’s household, envied by all. Three years later, she was the chancellor’s only daughter and the betrothed of the Prince of Zhennan’s heir, yet she regarded wealth and glory as fleeting clouds.
Once, she had lived without a care, obediently following her parents’ arrangements and looking forward to a peaceful, happy life with her husband. But her elder brother had died horribly, her mother had hanged herself, and nearly all her blood relatives had perished. This bloody reality made one thing clear: of all families in the realm, none is more heartless than the imperial family.
Given another life, she would never again be a pampered, obedient canary. She would become a phoenix soaring through the heavens. She would clear the names of the dead and defy fate itself. She would prove to the world that even a woman could command the realm and shoulder the weight of the world!
The world is unpredictable. With her own hands, she stirs the winds of change, wishing only for peace throughout the realm and prosperity for all.
Shen Nianyao: “My wish is for the people of this realm to live and work in peace, and for every household to sing and dance in happiness.”
Xiao Ye’an: “I will bring peace to the realm with my pen for you in this life, and conquer it on horseback for you in the next.”
