When Shen Qingci entered the gilded yet turbulent ninefold palace of the Tianyin Dynasty, all she wanted was for her family to be safe and to live a peaceful life. She was no breathtaking beauty.
But in the imperial palace, no one is allowed to keep to themselves.
The first snow at the Qionglin Banquet could not conceal the murderous schemes among the palace candidates.
She once naively believed that yielding and enduring would earn her a little peace. Instead, they brought her the heart-piercing pain of seeing her loved ones suffer.
Beneath those vermilion palace walls, every carved beam and painted rafter was steeped in silent blood and tears. Every radiant smile might conceal a blade coated in poison.
When the gentle revealed venomous fangs, when the merciful concealed towering debts of sin, when the emperor sharing her bed wielded love and suspicion like twin blades... this palace was no battlefield of romance, but a slaughterhouse where one lived or died. One step back meant plunging into an abyss, broken beyond repair.
So she buried her innocence with her own hands beneath the cold moss of a dry well in the Cold Palace. She rose anew from the purgatory of blood and fire. The clarity in her eyes deepened into an uncanny insight into the human heart, while the kindness within her was tempered into an edge sharp enough to outmaneuver anyone. She began to make herself a piece on the board, placing each move in silence as she wove an invisible web.
The peace she had sought... had long since crumbled into dust during the cold nights of the inner palace.
A phoenix cries across the skies, its call echoing through the palace.
Open this book and witness how Shen Qingci navigates the storms of blood and intrigue within the ninefold palace. Here you'll find the most intricate power plays, the most searing love and hatred, the most devastating betrayals, and the transformation of a woman's soul as she faces death and finds a way to live.
It's very engaging and makes you want to keep reading. Although it starts off a bit like a horror movie, it gets better and better as you go on, and after some reflection, you start to understand some of its aspects.