Farewell to Yao: A Noble Daughter's Reborn Scheme

In her previous life, Shen Qingci was the eldest legitimate daughter of the prime minister's household in the Great Jing Dynasty. Raised like a treasured jewel, she learned music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, and had a gentle temperament like the misty rains of Jiangnan. But she trusted the wrong people: Shen Qingyao, her half sister whom she had treated like a younger sister, and Gu Yanze, her childhood sweetheart and fiancé, the son of the Minister of Rites. After her coming-of-age ceremony, Shen Qingyao framed her for having an affair. Gu Yanze not only refused to uncover the truth, but seized the opportunity to present false evidence that the prime minister's household was corrupt. In truth, he and Shen Qingyao had fabricated it together. Overnight, the entire prime minister's household was sentenced to death. Her father and elder brother bled on the execution ground, while Shen Qingci had her pipa bones severed and was imprisoned in a dark room. At last, Shen Qingyao stood before her in her wedding dress, holding poisoned wine, and smiled. “Sister, your identity, your betrothal, your family: from now on, they all belong to me.” As the fire burned her alive, Shen Qingci swore through her tears of blood: If she had another life, she would make that despicable pair suffer everything she had endured, protect the Shen family, and defy this damned fate!

When she opened her eyes again, Shen Qingci had returned to the eve of her fifteenth birthday and coming-of-age ceremony. Magnolias bloomed outside the window, and on the desk lay the ceremonial dress her late mother had embroidered for her. Her personal maid, Wanyue, was just bringing in a bowl of calming broth. This was where her nightmare in her previous life had begun: the broth had been laced with something that made her disgrace herself the next day. This time, Shen Qingci suppressed the hatred in her eyes and ran her fingertips over the phoenix pattern on the dress, the corner of her mouth curling into a cold smile. She would have her revenge, but she would also find someone truly worthy of her trust amid the turmoil of the inner household and court intrigue. Together, they would break the shackles of feudal propriety and carve out a world free of constraints for herself, the Shen family, and the one she loved.