The Broken Hairpin Startles the Phoenix

The story is set in a fictional centralized dynasty resembling the High Tang, where imperial power, the military might of the empress's relatives, and the authority of kings with different surnames stand in a three-way balance. Shen Jingluan was the legitimate daughter of the Duke of Zhenguo in her previous life. She was forced into the Eastern Palace as a secondary consort; her father and brothers were exiled, her mother's family was executed, and she was stripped of her title and sentenced to death. When she opened her eyes again, three years past her coming-of-age ceremony, she looked at the poison her half-sister had brought her and smiled. The ruthless minister who had wiped out her entire family in her previous life was now kneeling below her, begging her to say, "I do." In this life, she would protect those still alive first, then reclaim, piece by piece, everything she had lost in that game of chess.