The imperial palace is a game of intrigue, and the emperor’s heart is impossible to read. A covert struggle that could engulf the entire Qing Empire is quietly drawing its first breath.
A beauty is sent from the Western Regions. The bewitching consort enters the palace and monopolizes the emperor’s favor, using secretive acupuncture to cloud his judgment and a mysterious drug to dissolve corpses and erase all traces. In secret, she raises falcons to aid the enemy and betray her country, all to coordinate an attack from within and bring down the Forbidden City.
In the past, the scent of Joyful Harmony ended her favor. Now, Imperial Noble Consort Hua hides her sharp edge behind a cold gaze. Hating the emperor’s heartlessness, she resolves to kill with a borrowed blade and patiently awaits the moment to close her net. Noble Lady Wan, Zhen Huan, lies low in the shadows, uncovering the secrets of the strange acupuncture and holding irrefutable proof of the spies as she advances step by step.
Within the palace, the evil shadow returns. Gray rats scurry, and prayer beads snap in alarm. The sinister forces behind the demonic fetus from the previous reign stir back to life. At the border, war fires are about to ignite. Two hundred thousand reinforcements are trapped in a desperate predicament, while the Western Regions’ iron cavalry sharpens its blades.
Hua Fei and Zhen Huan, one in the open and one in the shadows, one fierce and one gentle, set aside old grudges and form a strange alliance. Three players vie for power; two women engage in a battle of wits. Spies, murderous schemes, evil spirits, and military mutiny weave together into a deadly web. Who will have the last laugh?
When the palace of pleasure becomes a trap meant to claim lives, and harem politics turn into a gamble for the empire, no one in the Forbidden City can escape unscathed.
