The Phoenix Cries at Meridian Gate

In the Bingwu Palace, cinnabar serves as the key. When an old hairpin sees the light of day again, the truth emerges: the Phoenix’s blood-soaked tears back then were no coincidence.

This is more than a struggle for power among the women of the imperial harem. It is also a desperate search for the truth spanning seven years. When Lin Wantang finally unlocks the rusted copper lock of the Zhenji Storehouse, she finds more than the truth behind the Imperial Noble Consort’s wrongful death. There is also her father’s final message, left as he burned the drafts of the begonia painting, and the answer to a question about herself: why was she born with this “cursed” cinnabar mark?