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I am Ah Ning, a palace maid who lives in the dust of the Forbidden City. When I first entered the palace, I thought that rules were heaven and obedience was the way to live. It wasn't until my embroidered phoenix robe was stuffed into the cuffs, and I took the blame for the aunt in charge, that I knelt in the snow until I lost consciousness. Only then did I understand that within this red wall, kindness is like a sword and weakness is like flesh and blood. ? The rotten rice in the imperial dining room, the ice water in the laundry department, and the scoldings from the eunuch in charge were like layers of shrouds, trapping me in a coffin called "acceptance of fate." Until I saw my sister from my hometown being falsely accused of theft, with a foot of white silk hanging from the beam, those hands that had given me half a piece of corn would never move again. ? The moonlight that night was extremely cold. I clutched the half copper hairpin left by my sister and asked in my heart for the first time: Why? ? From then on, when I was washing my clothes, I secretly wrote down the preferences of the palace masters, and when I was sweeping, I paid attention to the whispers of the eunuchs. I even dared to say "Jade dew blends the ink to make the pen smoother" to win a moment of favor when I was grinding ink for the imperial concubine. They said that I had changed, that there was something in my eyes that I shouldn't have, but only I knew that it was the desire to live that came from the cracks in my bones. ? The red wall is towering, power is poison that penetrates the intestines, and it is also a life-saving straw. I am no longer the A Ning who is trampled on by others. I want to step on those eyes that look down upon me and walk step by step to a place where I can see the light - even if my feet are already covered with mud. ? This counterattack was never for glory and wealth, it was just to let those dusty people like me be qualified and live well.