[A pyre for everyone? No. I want the whole realm as my funeral offering!]
Shen Awu of the Minister of Revenue's household is a famous beauty in the capital, dismissed as a witless fool, yet she is the one and only treasure in Prince Ning's heart.
Until Prince Ning's rebellion is crushed, and his estate falls in an instant.
The prince who once loved her more than life itself is stripped of his title and thrown in chains. At the final moment, he shoves her forward to take the blame: "Your Majesty, hear me! This wicked woman talked me into everything!"
The Shen household is executed. Shen Awu is stripped of her status and sent to the palace's women's quarters as a servant, barely clinging to life.
Everyone thinks she will rot away unnoticed in that lightless place.
But they don't know that, on the brink of death, a storm rages through her mind: she remembers her past life!
In her previous life, she was the secret chancellor who shaped the fate of the realm and helped the new emperor ascend the throne. Her schemes never failed, yet the way she retired after achieving her goals was strange.
When she opens her eyes again, her timidity is gone, leaving only clarity.
Only then does she realize that Prince Ning's love for her was really a way to destroy her with excessive favor. The person he wanted to protect was someone else!
Excellent. Anyone who deceived, humiliated, betrayed, or abandoned her won't get away!
For three years in the women's quarters, she lies low and bides her time, using her own hands to turn the tides:
Using memories from her previous life, she secretly builds her power;
With peerless strategy, she helps the deposed empress dowager in the Cold Palace devise her plans and win back the emperor's favor;
She even cleverly exploits the sudden outbreak of plague in the palace, earning immense merit in the process.
The Prince Ning estate wants its title restored? Let them see if the power in her hands will allow it!
Her old enemies want to climb the social ladder? First, they'll learn what it feels like to fall from the clouds into the mud!
Shen Awu coldly reshapes the balance of power at court and sneers:
"I want the realm of ten thousand li as my game board, and no one left who can move my pieces!"
