In March in the south of the Yangtze River, it is misty and rainy.
When Shen Lingwei followed her father to Beijing, she originally thought she would be copying copybooks and playing with the piano strings in a different place, but she didn't expect that a draft edict would drag her and her close friend Su Wanwan into the palace with towering red walls.
She is the daughter of a fourth-rank civil servant, intelligent and perceptive, good at playing chess, calligraphy and painting, but with a bit of rebelliousness hidden in her natural temperament; he is Xiao Che, the new emperor who ascended the throne at the age of twenty-five. His brows are full of imperial majesty, and his thoughts are deep and unpredictable. Although there is a young queen and a few people in the harem, no one can see his true heart.
At the talent show, she accidentally performed a song that caught the eye of the emperor, but also attracted the attention of the idle but powerful prince Xiao Yu.
Deep in the inner courtyard of the palace, every step is a chess game. In the front, there is the undercurrent under the dignity of the queen, in the back, there is the overt and covert struggle between the concubines, and in the distance, there is the intertwining involvement of the court's forces. The relationship between Shen Lingwei and Su Wanwan as best friends was tested in the turbulent palace battles; and between her and Xiao Che, they were monarchs, ministers, and imperial concubines. Through repeated trials and confrontations, they developed a bond that even she was not aware of.
The emperor's favor is both honey and poison. The prince's admiration can be a comfort or a curse.
From the unknown beautiful lady, to the noble concubine in charge of the Phoenix Seal, to the queen mother who listens to the government behind the curtain, Shen Lingwei steps on the moonlight and shadows on the palace steps, using wisdom as her armor and her heart as her blade, and moves step by step in the chess game of power.
What she wanted was never to be the sole pamperer, but to protect herself and the people she wanted to protect in this deep palace, and finally find her own way to the Phoenix level.
And will the man who stands at the top of power stop for her and see through the softness and toughness under all her disguises?
Purpose: The purpose of this book is to show the growth and perseverance of women in the special environment of the inner palace: Shen Lingwei uses wisdom as the boat and heart as the rudder. She neither loses her true heart nor indulges in love in the whirlpool of power. She supports each other with her best friend Su Wanwan, who is always with her, and finds a way to survive in the imperial concubine game and the harem disputes. In the end, Shen Lingwei transforms from a beautiful girl who is dependent on the system to a queen mother who can control her own destiny and even influence the court situation. Its core is not only personal class crossing, but also implies an in-depth discussion of "the resilience of female friendship in difficult situations" and "the ability to gain a foothold with sobriety and independence". In the intertwining of romance and power, it writes an epic of female growth that does not depend on or blindly follow.