The empress suddenly died, and the palace hastily attributed her death to an acute illness. Her birth family suspected foul play, and her younger sister, Pei Zijin, returned to the treacherous imperial capital, determined to tear away the layers of deceit concealing her sister's brutal death.
The investigation was fraught with danger. Lu Ming, the Imperial Guard commander whom she had once rescued in a moment of peril, crossed paths with her again.
The two supported each other amid the turbulent currents of court, gradually unraveling a chain of conspiracies involving framing, poisoning, and political power struggles.
When Pei Zijin saw that the emperor was incompetent, the great clans were colluding, and the court had long since rotted beyond repair, she made up her mind: if the laws of this land were corrupt, if imperial power could no longer distinguish right from wrong, then she would join forces with the entire household of the Duke of State and her trusted comrades to topple this corrupt world and remake the order of things.
