In her third year in the palace, Shen Qingwu took a poisoned cup meant for the emperor. When she woke, she was accused of plotting against the imperial heir and banished to the Cold Palace. She neither cried nor protested. She merely touched the corpse of the palace maid who had supposedly been murdered and saw the killer’s horrified face. In the Cold Palace, she used her ability to read souls by touching corpses to unravel Consort Wei’s schemes, one step at a time, and dig the truth about the massacre of her family out of a dry well. Emperor Xiao Jingyan initially wanted to use her as bait. Later, he couldn’t help asking her, “What else can you see?” Shen Qingwu wiped the blood from her hands and smiled. “I can see how your mother died. Want to hear about it?”
