In her previous life, Shen Zhao was the legitimate daughter of the Marquis of Zhenbei's household. Her family and the Crown Prince's faction set her up, forcing her to marry into the Eastern Palace as a secondary consort and become a pawn in the struggle for the throne. Her father was falsely accused of "colluding with the Northern Di," and her entire family was executed. She was given a cup of poisoned wine, ending her life.
Reborn in the twentieth year of Emperor Jing's reign, she finds that none of it has happened yet. This time, she vows to protect her family and take revenge on her enemies with her own hands. At the Cui family's flower-viewing banquet, she turns down the Eastern Palace's matchmaker with a single line: "A daughter of the Shen family will never be a concubine." With a light touch, she deflects a powerful move. In a teahouse south of the city, she swears a blood oath with Xiao Jingheng, the "Idle Prince" whom everyone laughs at. She uncovers that the current empress is the true culprit behind her birth mother's death, and discovers that the nine-phoenix hairpin and half a jade pendant conceal the "Death-Exemption Iron Writ" bestowed by the late emperor...
He was once the most unremarkable of all the capital's princes, the ninth prince. His mother consort died young, he had neither power nor influence, and everyone considered him a wealthy idler. Little did they know that he had been laying his plans in secret for twenty years.
One seeks revenge; the other seeks the throne. From testing each other, to fighting side by side, to entrusting their lives to one another. On the night of the palace coup, he stands before her, drenched in blood. "I told you, no one will ever hurt you again." And she finally rises, step by step, from a pawn at the mercy of others to the most revered empress in the realm.
[One Couple, Two Powerful Leads] [Careful Scheming] [Rebirth and Revenge] [Court Intrigue Power Fantasy] [Happy Ending]
