On the day she was to be crowned empress, Shen Zhiwei was met not with the empress’s seal, but with a cup of poison.
She had taken a blade for Xiao Jingheng, borne blame for him, and helped stabilize the Shen family. Naively, she thought that ten years of devotion would earn them a lifetime side by side.
But only three days after the new emperor ascended the throne, the Shen family was accused of colluding with the enemy and betraying the country.
Kneeling outside the Hall of Supreme Harmony, she watched Su Mingyue receive the phoenix crown that should have been hers.
Only as she lay dying did she finally understand.
Xiao Jingheng might not truly believe she was guilty.
He simply thought neither she nor the Shen family was worth risking his throne for.
When Shen Zhiwei opened her eyes again, she was back three years in the past.
That day, the Crown Prince sent her a jade pendant as a token of their love.
In her previous life, she had treasured it, never knowing it contained the secret message that would bring about the deaths of the entire Shen family.
In this life, she smashed the pendant with her own hands, tearing away the first layer of the Eastern Palace’s disguise.
The Crown Prince wanted the Shen family to bow their heads. Su Mingyue wanted to kill under the guise of propriety. And within the court, an even deeper hand was moving pieces in the shadows.
Shen Zhiwei would no longer wait for anyone to turn back.
She would protect the Shen family, investigate old cases, and break out of a deadly trap.
She would also return, one by one, every blade handed to her under the guise of affection.
And Prince Regent Xie Wugou, who had gathered her remains in her previous life, had once again entered her game in this one.
This time, she would not be anyone’s empress.
She would make Xiao Jingheng watch as the empire he couldn’t bear to relinquish came crashing down.
