Carving Jade into a Phoenix

Xie Zhao died. She died for treason, by a blade placed in her hands by her own family.

In her previous life, she was the true heiress, lost among the common folk for sixteen years. After returning to the family, she kept her head bowed, learned the rules, and tried to win their favor. In return, she received a sentence of immediate execution. As the Xie family’s carriage sped away from the execution ground, she finally realized that the half of a dragon-patterned jade disc in her arms was tied to the former dynasty’s phoenix bloodline, and that the gentle, considerate fake heiress, Xie Yaoqin, had been a pawn planted by someone else all along.

When she opened her eyes, she was back on the night of the family reunion banquet, with the warmth of Madam Xie’s slap still lingering on her cheek. This time, she would no longer kneel and beg for love. She tore away the Xie family’s public facade in front of everyone, plunged a dagger into an assassin’s shoulder, and sneered beneath the moonlight in the dead of night: “Sister, we have a long road ahead.”