The Ninefold Palace: The Phoenix Reigns Over All

[Female-led + political intrigue + empress + ensemble cast + women's rise + feel-good power fantasy] [No transmigration, no rebirth, no System] [Clear-headed, independent empress]

From condemned daughter in the Cold Palace to founding empress, the first taste of sweetness Chu Yi swallowed was deadly poison.

The taro candy given to her when she was seven concealed a scheme designed to kill with a single drop of blood. She smiled as she swallowed it, and from then on learned to wrap her sincerity in honey...

From the daughter of a disgraced consort to founding empress, she climbed to the highest palace, treading across icy, abandoned wells and blood-soaked halls of power.

The crown prince? The third prince? The hostage from an enemy kingdom? All pieces on her chessboard.

Xiao Jingheng, heir to the Duke Who Guards the Nation, was the boy who saved her at the imperial hunting grounds, and also a blade trapped beneath his family's constraints. Love and hatred intertwined: he was the one who gave her candy, and also the one who returned with a poison needle meant to pierce her heart.

Her trusted confidante Xie Yao swore loyalty with the brand of the word