Prisoners in a Golden Cage

On the snowy night when the entire Marquis of Zhenbei’s household was falsely accused, Shen Jinghan crawled out of a mountain of corpses and became the most lowly convict in the Eastern Palace.

Once the treasured legitimate daughter of a marquis, she must now struggle to survive in the palace’s cold, forsaken quarters, watching the Lin father and daughter wield power over the court while the new emperor, Xiao Jue, looks on with indifference. She hides her claws and conceals her edge, believing she can only rot away in hatred for the rest of her life. Yet, unexpectedly, the emperor who stands high above all others hands her a knife in the dead of night:

“Want revenge? I’ll give you the chance.”

Thus, the deposed consort Shen Jinghan sets out on a thorn-strewn path. She storms palace banquets, battles powerful ministers, enters enemy camps, and investigates old cases. From the constant perils of the inner palace to the clash of blades on the frontier, she stirs up a storm as a woman, all to clear the names of the 370 souls of the Shen family.

The emperor who once clashed with her at every turn comes to see the resilience and sincerity in her eyes through their many confrontations. He shields her from hidden arrows and clears obstacles from her path. When she is imprisoned, he takes her hand and says, “You and I will protect this realm together.”

From a marquis’s legitimate daughter to a lone soul seeking vengeance, from a deposed consort in the palace to a wise empress, Shen Jinghan proves with her life that even after enduring blood and fire, a woman can shoulder great burdens; and that no matter how treacherous the schemes, true love can withstand the long passage of time. The flames at Yanmen Pass, the peach blossoms of Jiangnan, and the palace lanterns of the imperial capital will forever remember this couple, who wore love as armor and wielded their hearts as blades, protecting their country’s peace and keeping its lights burning bright for a lifetime.