Palm of Ashes

Shen Zhaoning is the apple of the Great General's household. In public, she is as poised and radiant as the moon. In private, she frequents Fengmi House. At a banquet, she spots Wanyan Lie, the boy Liang Bo took in, also known as Liang Jue. He is still a young boy, handsome and quiet. After a teasing remark from a young master of the Qin family, she swears she'll tame the taciturn boy. Disguised as a maid, she clings to him and watches him go from wary to warming up to her. He even runs all over the main street to buy her pastries. But when he returns with them, he catches her showing off the purse he embroidered to a group of nobles, her tone flippant: “See? I told you he'd do whatever I said.” Hidden behind the door, Wanyan Lie feels as if he has fallen into an icy abyss. Two years later, the Shen family is executed to the last member for treason. Her wet nurse saves her by switching her with another girl. Dressed in rags, Shen Zhaoning watches the execution grounds run red with blood. After she faints, she is sold to Fengmi House. After much hardship, she ends up as the lowest-ranking servant in Prince Chen's residence, enduring humiliation day after day. Then a long sword lifts her chin, and a cold voice strikes down. Their eyes meet, and she recognizes his face. It's Wanyan Lie, the boy she once personally accused of stealing valuables from the household. “Why haven't you greeted Prince Chen?” The former servant boy has become Prince Chen, a man wielding power across Yuanfu. He takes concubines, yet insists she serve them at his side. His revenge is ruthless. That night, he takes her and sneers: “You're not even as good as the prostitutes at Fengmi House.” She is as low as dust before him, but he is the one who loses control and falls first, even though his heart is set on revenge.