When the Snow Melts, the Phoenix Tree Returns

Lin Wan, the legitimate daughter of the Prime Minister, was killed in her previous life by her half-sister and her fiance, the Fourth Prince, their schemes ending with her blood spilling across a concubine-taking ceremony. Reborn at the age of fifteen, she smashes the jade hairpin from her betrothal and swears that her enemies will pay in blood.

Her hypocritical half-sister hides a blade behind every smile, while the faithless prince feigns affection. Under Lin Wan’s careful plans, they are both reduced to dust. Yet on the road to revenge, she finds herself caught by a pair of deep eyes: those of Crown Prince Xie Yunyin, famed for his cold and unfeeling nature.

He wipes the blood from her fingertips. “Wanwan, why get your own hands dirty?” From the shadows, he moves the pieces to help her out of danger. Together, they unravel the truth behind her maternal grandfather’s death on the battlefield and the turmoil on the northern frontier, exposing a shocking plot. The mastermind on the other side of the board is a senior member of the imperial family who has lain low for years, intent on overthrowing the dynasty.

From the secluded chambers of the Prime Minister’s residence to the pinnacle of the palace, from a return from hell to becoming the empire’s highest-ranking woman. She thought she lived only for revenge and to repay a debt of gratitude, never realizing she had already won the heart of an emperor, sincere and true. “Your revenge is done,” he says, taking her hand beneath the glittering lights, his gaze tender. “Will you accept this empire as my bride-price, and spend the rest of your life by my side?”

This is both a revenge story forged in the flames of rebirth and a game of strategy in which the emperor and empress stand as one to shape the fate of the realm.