A political marriage between emperor and empress drags her into a maelstrom of power and desire.
Shen Qingying, daughter of the Duke-Protecting General, enters the inner palace burdened with her family’s glory and responsibility, becoming the empress of the young ruler Xiao Chen. She once believed that with intelligence and sincerity, she might win a little of the emperor’s affection and live a peaceful life within the ninefold palace walls.
But the emperor’s heart is impossible to fathom. Xiao Chen, a ruler of great ambition yet deep suspicion, grants her extraordinary favor and affection, letting her lose herself for a time in the tender illusion beneath the empress’s chambers. Yet court politics and power struggles repeatedly make him doubt and neglect her, even lash out at her, grinding her sincerity and dignity into the mud.
The harem is a perilous place at every turn. Behind Noble Consort Lin’s gentle, understanding manner lies a poison-coated blade, while Lady Li’s dazzling smile conceals a dagger of jealousy. Open and covert attacks, false accusations, and schemes come one after another. Surviving time and again by the skin of her teeth, she gradually changes from an innocent general’s daughter into a woman of the inner palace, forced to become calculating and hard as iron.
She and he are repeatedly torn between love and hatred, trapped in an endless cycle of trust and betrayal. He loves her alone, but his devotion is possessive and twisted. Her love turns to hate, yet her hatred cannot make her let go completely.
When the thunderclap of her family’s downfall strikes, and cold reality tears apart every comforting illusion, Shen Qingying falls from the clouds into the abyss. Her favor is gone; she is left alone by cold walls and a solitary lamp, while the splendor of the past becomes a cruel mockery.
But the phoenix is reborn through the flames. In her darkest hour, she wipes away every tear and buries love and innocence alike.
