The Black Lotus Insisted on Saving the Buddha

[Palace Intrigue, Household Intrigue, Mystery, Political Scheming, Revenge, Medical Skills]

The year the palace gates opened, my elder legitimate sister fell ill on the eve of her selection. I, an insignificant illegitimate daughter of the Shen family, was hurriedly shoved into a shabby sedan chair with blue curtains.

Everyone laughed at the Shen family for being foolish, declaring that a “crude and timid” illegitimate daughter like me would not survive three months in the palace, where people devoured one another.

When a favored consort inexplicably suffered palpitations and coughed up blood, and the empress was plagued by nightmares night after night...

I held a scripture stained with an inexplicable fragrance and knelt in the quiet Buddhist hall of the Palace of Compassion and Tranquility.

Amid the curling sandalwood incense, the empress dowager, who had spent years abstaining from meat and praying to Buddha, stroked my head and sighed with pity. “Good child, this imperial harem is too filthy. Stay by my side and copy scriptures.”