Return of the Phoenix: The Empress Plots Regicide and Rebellion

On the eighteenth day of the twelfth lunar month, snow weighed down the palace eaves.

As the last ember in the Cold Palace went out, Shen Shu knew her time had come.

She lay on a damp pile of straw, her abdomen twisting with pain as if a knife were turning inside it. The poisoned wine was burning through her insides inch by inch. Outside the door came the faint sound of footsteps and a woman's sweet, delicate laughter, like a blade dipped in honey.

“Elder Sister, I’ve come to see you off.”