In her previous life, she was bedridden with illness and poisoned to death by her stepmother. When she opens her eyes again, she has become the Empress Dowager’s dimwitted adopted son.
> At a palace banquet, the marquis’s stepmother pretends to serve him food. Powdered medicine falls from her fingertips into the soup.
> “Sixth Imperial Uncle, this soup is especially nourishing,” she says with a gentle smile.
Just as he crushes his jade cup and prepares to act, the Fifth Prince suddenly grabs his bleeding hand.
Pain and anger, strangely familiar, surge in the prince’s eyes. “Cousin, shall I drink this bowl of soup for you?”
> The whole hall falls silent. From his seat of honor, the emperor’s gaze turns icy.
The Fifth Prince leans close to his ear. “The blood debt they owed you in our last life, I’ll help you collect it, one account at a time.” Looking at the deep ambition in his eyes, he suddenly realizes that this palace power struggle has only just begun.
