She is the most unremarkable concubine-born daughter of the Shen family. Her stepmother treats her as a bargaining chip worth five thousand taels of silver, and she is about to be married off as the second wife of a man in his fifties.
No one knows that inside her frail body lives a soul that has seen through the ways of the world.
That night, she steals her late brother's identity and strides out of the Shen residence through the main gate.
Three years later, an official named Shen Zhijian appears at court.
Born to a humble family, he passes the imperial examinations one after another. He exposes the flaws in the grain transport system through his insight into human nature and stirs up the court with his knack for turning others' strength against them.
He makes corrupt officials tremble at his name and powerful nobles grind their teeth in hatred, yet none can find the slightest evidence against him.
The emperor says, “This man is too clever. I don't quite trust him.”
A powerful minister says, “He cannot be allowed to live, but whoever moves against him will die first.”
Only she knows that her greatest secret lies beneath her official robes.
This is the story of a concubine-born daughter who defies fate and changes her life.
No romance, only careful maneuvering at every turn.
In fifteen years, she becomes the one person in the entire dynasty no one dares to cross.
Some people are born to be players, even when they start with just one pawn.
