Gambit at the Phoenix Palace: The Emperor’s Heart, My Prison and My Plot

Also known as "Enter My Game: Those Who Enter, Ask Not the Way Home" [Antique Restorer x PhD in History x True Political Intrigue x No Foolish Villains x Equally Matched Leads]

A thousand years later, she sees a pair of dragon-and-phoenix jade pendants at an auction.

Engraved on them are the words: “We played this game in this life. Let’s continue in the next.”

A low male voice comes from behind her. “Researcher Shen, we meet again.”

This is her third life.

In this life, she transmigrates as a pawn sent to marry in someone else’s place. Her adoptive mother wants her to “die of illness,” and the palace selection is tomorrow.

She insists on living, and on rising even higher.

On her first night in the palace, the emperor says, “Be my blade.”

She agrees. But a blade can have a will of its own.

With her exceptional skill at “forgery,” she makes fake account books look like century-old records and breaks open a century-old web of corruption from the previous dynasty.

The emperor watches her from the shadows. The scrutiny in his eyes gradually gives way to something else.

She says, “Your Majesty, it’s time for me to take over this game.”

She thinks the contest of wits in this life is the endgame.

But she doesn’t know that some games began a thousand years ago.

Reader note: A serious political intrigue drama with a slow build, not a wish-fulfillment story. The female and male leads are evenly matched. If you enjoy stories like "Nirvana in Fire", this one may be for you.