At the end of the twenty-seventh year of Yong'an, Su Jinshuang, the legitimate daughter of the Duke of Zhenguo, saw her entire family wiped out. For more than ten years, she had been devoted to the Third Prince, Xiao Jingyuan, pouring her family’s military power, wealth, and connections into helping him claim the throne. She had cherished her half-sister Su Wanrou and trusted her personal maid, Yuncui, without reservation. In the end, it was all an earth-shattering scheme: Xiao Jingyuan used the Su family’s military power to eliminate his rivals, then joined forces with Su Wanrou to fabricate evidence that the family had colluded with the enemy. Overnight, the entire household of the Duke of Zhenguo was sentenced to death. Her father and brothers stained the execution ground with their blood, and Su Jinshuang was forced to drink poison. With her dying breath, she watched Su Wanrou take the position of secondary consort to the prince that should have been hers.
Amid her boundless hatred, Su Jinshuang’s soul traveled back three years, and she was reborn on the eve of her coming-of-age ceremony in the twenty-fourth year of Yong'an. The Su family’s foundations were still secure, Xiao Jingyuan’s plot had only just begun, and the claws of her half-sister and treacherous maid had yet to take firm root.
She cast off the naive devotion of her past life, hiding her sharp edge beneath a gentle exterior. First, she would root out the traitors around her and tear away her half-sister’s mask of virtue. Second, she would distance herself from Xiao Jingyuan and cut off his reliance on the Su family to seize power. Third, she would secretly gather evidence of Xiao Jingyuan’s collusion with powerful maternal relatives, secret recruitment of troops, and framing of court officials. Fourth, she would protect her father and brothers, mend relationships at court, and win over loyalists. Fifth, she would leverage imperial authority and play the princes against one another, dismantling Xiao Jingyuan’s bid for the throne step by step. At last, she would expose every blood-soaked crime before all, bring each enemy to justice, and clear the Su family’s name while securing its power and position.
Along the way, she met the cold and reserved Seventh Prince, Lu Yanci, who held secret power over the capital region. Both had been schemed against and pushed aside. They tested one another and offered mutual support, gradually growing from allies into lovers. In the end, Xiao Jingyuan’s bid for the throne failed, and he was imprisoned deep within the palace. Su Wanrou suffered endless humiliation, while the treacherous maid Yuncui was sentenced to the utmost punishment…
