The entire Shen family is framed for treason. Shen Yuwei drinks poison in bitter despair, only to be reborn as a condemned woman sent into the palace as a servant.
Beneath the plum blossoms in the Cold Fragrance Court, she grips the entwined-lotus black jade her father left behind, her gaze icy with resolve. The empress and her brother owe a blood debt, and she will make them pay with interest!
A silver needle can save a life, or take one. Embroidery thread can trace flowers, or conceal a blade. With her astonishing medical skills, she carves out a place for herself in the harem: she saves the Empress Dowager from a dangerous heart palpitation, foils the Noble Consort’s poisoning scheme, and even wins the secret affections of Su Jingheng, the Imperial Medical Academy’s chief physician, who gladly becomes her ally.
Hidden letters in embroidered handkerchiefs, traces of poison uncovered in medicine bowls: she advances carefully through the cracks in the palace walls. She takes down the overbearing Noble Consort and tears away the hypocritical empress’s mask, dragging her former enemies into hell one by one.
The Seventh Prince, Xiao Jingshan, offers her an alliance: “Help me win the succession, and I’ll clear your family’s name.” She accepts with a smile, unaware that her ally has already fallen for her.
When fragments of a ledger reveal a shocking conspiracy and loyal followers begin gathering in secret, Shen Yuwei stands with a needle in hand, its tip reflecting a bloody light. “It’s time for this palace to see a new ruler!”
From a condemned servant at everyone’s mercy to the uncrowned empress who commands the harem, she pursues revenge with medicine and poison as her blades, and love and hatred as her game pieces!
