Shen Yuan, the Right Chancellor, has no sons, only six daughters. People in the capital joke, “The Shen family has six phoenixes, but not a single one is a real phoenix.”
That is, until an imperial decree of marriage arrives.
The eldest, Shen Yuheng, is betrothed to Gu Yanzhi, the Left Chancellor’s legitimate son. Everyone says he is frail and out of favor, but beneath his pale face, she senses the pulse of a hidden game of strategy.
The second, Shen Yunyao, is betrothed to Xie Sixing, heir to the Marquis of Jing'an. He is gentle and flawless, but amid the sweetness of their life together, she catches the bloodstained scent of a spy.
The third, Shen Huanning, is betrothed to the Sixth Prince, Xiao Heng. He is a forgotten prince, overlooked for over a decade and no good at either letters or martial arts, until she finds a well-thumbed copy of Northern Frontier Defense Records in his study.
The fourth, Shen Anhe, is betrothed to Lu Changqing, a cold-faced imperial physician. He treats illnesses of the body; she treats those of the heart.
The fifth, Shen Panyan, takes a princess’s place in a marriage to a man from the southern frontier. Along the three-thousand-mile journey, she uses letter after letter to establish a Shen family stronghold in the south.
The sixth, Shen Xijun, is betrothed to Song Qian, a newly crowned top scholar. Her hands are as skillful as Lu Ban’s, and she happens to meet a bookish young man who will argue her case.
Six marriages, six layers of scheming.
Twenty years into his reign, the emperor casts a net with a single imperial decree.
But he gets one thing wrong: the six Shen sisters have never been pawns.
They are the ones moving the pieces.
“Sisters united, defying fate and changing their destinies. Love after marriage, six kinds of heart-fluttering romance.”
