In the third year of Yongchang under the Great Zhou, Shen Wan, the empress dowager's niece, awoke after a serious illness. The innocence faded from her eyes, leaving only bone-deep coldness. She had been reborn. In her previous life, her aunt, the empress dowager, arranged for her to enter the palace. But her soft, timid nature made her a victim of the harem's power struggles. Worse, one unintentional mistake angered Emperor Xiao Che, bringing the Shen family under accusation and leaving the whole clan in ruins. As flames consumed her, she swore that if she had another life, she would stay far from the palace and protect her family.
In this life, she was once again raised in the empress dowager's palace. Hearing the officials speculate that she was about to become mistress of the harem, Shen Wan sneered inwardly. She knew all too well the cold cruelty of the profound Emperor Xiao Che and the dangers of the court and harem. So she played along with her aunt, appearing to be a sheltered, pampered young lady while secretly helping the empress dowager find her a reliable match outside the palace. As for the emperor, she avoided him whenever possible and treated him like a wolf.
At first, Emperor Xiao Che simply found his young cousin amusing. The empress dowager guarded against him as if he were a thief, while his young cousin fled from him like a startled rabbit. Then, twice by chance, he saw the girl who always avoided him making a quiet wish before a Buddha statue in an empty shrine. Greedily, she wished for her family to be safe and well, to eat her way through the capital, and to be free forever. Her innocent, earnest manner brushed against his heart like a feather. Suddenly, he thought that plucking this lovely flower, who wanted only to escape the palace walls, and keeping her in his palm for himself might be a rather fine idea.
Drawing on her memories of her previous life, Shen Wan avoided dangers in advance and secretly gathered evidence against her enemies, hoping to change her family's fate. She thought everything was under control, unaware that the lively girl making wishes before the Buddha had already caught the emperor's eye and become his most dangerous temptation.
It's beautiful, the writing is exquisite, the plot and the characters are well described.