The Phoenix Terrace in Ashes

The Phoenix’s Lament

On the day the new emperor ascended the throne, the chief astrologer of the Imperial Observatory stepped over the bloodstains on the palace steps and declared, “The Phoenix Star eclipses the sun. It must be offered to the flames.”

Everyone thought Princess Xiao Yunhuang’s fortunes had run out.

No one knew that the Phoenix Terrace she had built had already woven an invisible web over the entire capital.

The instant the sacrificial dagger pierced her robes, flames suddenly surged upward.

“What an auspicious sign of a phoenix rising from the ashes,” she said with a smile, looking toward the new emperor’s twisted face on the high platform.

“Too bad, dear brother. You burned the wrong person.”