The night Chu Yunheng was deposed, a man sat atop the wall of the Cold Palace. Wei Xiao tossed down a jug of wine and said, “Have some while it’s warm. Don’t freeze to death.” She looked up at him and fixed his face in her memory. Three months later, she left the Cold Palace. Her first move wasn’t to settle the score with Shen Dai, but to slip the late emperor’s secret edict into her robes. It was time for the harem’s order to change.
