When Shen Zhiyao, a concubine-born daughter, transmigrates, she goes from being the neglected castoff of a marquis’s household to the only extraordinary woman in Emperor Xiao Jingyun’s eyes who dares speak plainly about the state of the realm. She wields history like a sword, breaking up factional rivalries, exposing old cases, and quelling border unrest as she steadily climbs to the summit of power. Her legitimate older sister’s schemes, eunuchs’ false accusations, and the consorts’ rivalry for the emperor’s favor all become steps on her path to the top. The cold-faced emperor appears to look on indifferently, but in truth, he personally burns away every threat to her. His exclusive devotion is both strategy and salvation.
