A palace seamstress turns her embroidery into a trap, weaving evidence of corruption into her work and clawing her way back to power, one step at a time, amid court intrigue. Trapped in the palace’s most desolate quarters, Xiao Jinse, once the Princess of Anle and daughter of the Embroidery Saint, bears a blood feud for her mother’s brutal death. Armed with an ebony embroidery needle as her blade and silk thread as her net, she plots her every move in the depths of the palace. Seizing the chance to make a birthday gift for Dowager Consort Shen, she uses her secret double-sided, multicolored embroidery technique to conceal evidence of corruption in her work. She brings down the wicked servant who tormented her, taking the first step toward revenge. Then, with her peerless embroidery skills, she rises from a disgraced woman in the cold palace to a court lady official, uncovering layer upon layer of schemes: her mother’s framing and tragic death, her body wrapped in dark green satin, the emperor controlled by a deadly parasite, and the secret of murder by poison. She discovers that her mother’s death is tied to a shocking conspiracy involving the empress’s bid to usurp power, corruption from the previous dynasty, and collusion with the Northern Di. Using embroidery to scheme and her needle to break through each trap, she enlists the help of the hostage Murong Yuan and lays an inescapable net throughout the treacherous inner palace and court, settling accounts one by one with those who framed her mother. From secret messages hidden in handkerchiefs and blood-stitched missives to burning embroidery to prove her innocence and using golden thread to reveal evidence of guilt, Xiao Jinse uses her peerless needlework to clear her mother’s name and turn the political landscape upside down, despite her fragile appearance. Within the palace walls that devour all who enter, she ultimately uses the power of embroidery to determine the fate of the realm and triumph over her desperate circumstances.
