On the day Shen Zhaoning was married off as a substitute bride to the cold-faced Third Prince, she lifted her veil and produced a bloodstained imperial jade seal, a token of royal authority lost by the former dynasty. Xiao Mingye’s pupils contracted. The destruction of his mother’s family was somehow connected to the seal. Deep within the palace walls, the chief eunuch quietly handed over half of a bloodstained letter. The commander of the Imperial Guards sneaked into the Eastern Palace at night, and even the empress’s adopted daughter revealed her true face. A blood feud spanning two generations was slowly coming to light. She was no substitute bride: she was the true phoenix returning to the throne.
