Secrets of Kunning Palace

In the tenth year of the Jiajing reign, Fang Jingshu, a young woman from a humble family in Jiangnan, entered the palace with two things clenched in her hands: a wooden plaque bearing the word “Endure,” given to her by her father, and a plain silk handkerchief embroidered with the same word, given to her by Consort Cao Duan.

The asters in Kunning Palace withered alongside the late empress, while Noble Consort Li’s golden pheasant-patterned robes flaunted their splendor in the candlelight of Chengqian Palace. Palace intrigue, crushed charcoal, cutting remarks, orders to copy scriptures... Every step behind the palace walls taught her that writing the word “Endure” was easy, but living by it meant bleeding.

She wielded Daoist prayers as a blade, concealing her edge within the mysteries of Daoism; with a pure heart as her armor, she fought to survive both persecution and secret aid. But when the Embroidered Uniform Guard’s blade reflected the ruins of Kunning Palace, and the mystery of her father’s resignation became entangled with an old case, she finally understood: moss in Changchun Palace could crack bricks and take root. Perhaps her own “survival” could also pry open the secrets beneath these palace walls.

The restraint on the handkerchief and the resolve on the wooden plaque would, in the end, reveal in the moonlight whose guilt it was, and whose resentment remained unfulfilled.