The novel is narrated in first person, with me as Zhen Mi.
When Ye City falls, Zhen Mi goes from being Yuan Shao’s daughter-in-law to a captive of the Cao family. The moment she is dragged out from behind a partition wall, Cao Pi, a Gentleman of the Palace Guards, brushes the tangled hair from her face and says the words that will change her life: “Let this woman live.” She thinks she has survived the disaster, unaware that she has been a carefully placed pawn since the day she was born. Yuan Shao planted a life-prolonging pill in her. Cao Cao uses her to test the character of his heir. Cao Pi dotes on and loves her because her blood holds the secret to prolonging the life of the King of Wei. Everyone wants something from her, but no one has ever asked her: Do you want this?
At last, when she takes her place as crown princess, she discovers that her mother’s killer is sharpening a blade in the shadows, and that the man who claims to love her is actually her half-brother. This is a game that has been unfolding for twenty-six years. Everyone thinks they are the one moving the pieces, never realizing they are pawns themselves. And the moment she decides to overturn the board, the whole of Ye City will be turned upside down.
