The entire Northern Marquis manor was executed, but Shen Yuheng, the legitimate daughter, escaped the slaughter because she had not returned from guarding the border. Using "Yuheng Star" as her code name, she secretly built an intelligence network and entered the palace through the imperial selection, advancing cautiously from the daughter of a merchant family. A "Yuheng Star Chart" she happened upon in an ancient tomb near the frontier let her read people's hearts as easily as star paths. By focusing and making deductions, she could see a faint glimmer of the corresponding constellation above her target's head, allowing her to discern their intentions and predict their fate. Each use, however, cost her a portion of her vital energy. She stood out in the selection with her knowledge of astrology and prophecies, then wielded the mandate of Heaven as a blade in the harem to bring down the Noble Consort and Consort Shu. But when she came close to uncovering the truth behind her father's wrongful conviction, she discovered that the emperor had known her identity all along. From testing one another to joining forces, they ultimately exposed the Chief Astronomer of the Imperial Observatory as a remnant of the previous dynasty, manipulating two generations of emperors with the deadly "Mars Guarding the Heart" omen. Using herself as bait, she reversed the celestial chart. After breaking the deadlock, she helped the emperor purge corruption from court and country, then, as empress, opened the imperial examinations to women and established border trade markets. From an orphaned girl bent on revenge to a guardian of all under Heaven, she broke not only a wrongful conviction, but also the thousand-year-old shackles of "fate dictated by the stars."
