An Lingrong Gets Another Chance

She was once the lowliest consort in the harem, trampled on and left at the mercy of others.

She drank bitter apricot kernels for six years before finally breathing her last.

On the snowy night she died in the Cold Palace, she heard someone whisper in her ear, “If you get another life, don’t trust the wrong people again.”

When she opened her eyes, she was back at fifteen, on the day of the palace selection.

The autumn begonias by her temples were unchanged, and before her stood the same smiling faces with daggers behind them.

But this time, she was no longer the An Lingrong others could push around.

She would not compete for favor, depend on anyone, or trust too easily.

She watched coldly as Hua Fei threw her weight around, the empress plotted in secret, and Zhen Huan advanced one step at a time.

All she wanted was to live with dignity in this deadly palace.

But that man, high above her, kept pulling her back into the center of the storm.

“You’ve changed,” he said.

She smiled. “Your Majesty, I have never changed. The An Lingrong I used to be has simply died once already.”

In this new life, she would be the one moving the pieces, not a piece on someone else’s board.

But as the truth slowly came to light, she discovered that her death in her previous life had never been as simple as she thought.

Hidden in that bowl of bitter apricot kernels was a secret she had never imagined.