Shattered Jade

Jiang Zhiyi, the legitimate daughter of the Minister of Rites, is sent into the imperial palace by her family as a stepping stone, all to clear the way for her beloved half-sister. Three years after entering the palace, she has little favor from the emperor and lives like a ghost. Then her half-sister wins the emperor's favor and becomes pregnant with his child, only to suffer a sudden miscarriage after being poisoned at a palace banquet. She tearfully accuses Jiang Zhiyi of doing it.

As the emperor flies into a rage, her own father kneels and presents a confession he wrote himself. Every word is soaked in blood and tears as he begs the emperor to execute his own daughter, quell the chaos in the palace, and save the family and his favored concubine.

As a length of white silk hangs from the beam, Jiang Zhiyi touches the faint pulse of the pregnancy she has just discovered and smiles silently in the cold, dark night of the abandoned palace.

A year later, a fire engulfs the abandoned palace. “Consort Wan” perishes in the blaze, leaving no remains.

Three years later, a new emperor ascends the throne. At his side is an empress whose face has been utterly disfigured, hidden behind a veil, and whose methods are ruthless. She rules from behind the curtain, wielding power over the court.

Those who once betrayed her kneel beneath the palace steps, trembling and begging for mercy.

From behind the beaded curtain comes her hoarse voice, like shattered porcelain:

“I survived and made it this far... Wasn't it all thanks to you, and your own hands?”