Xian Nangong Shen: A Game in the Inner Court

The palace of the King of Xianan glittered with countless golden roofs and dazzling glazed tiles.

In this most opulent golden cage in the kingdom, everyone worshipped Buddha, and everyone concealed their own secrets.

People said that the principal consort Wanlin had been blessed by fate. Born the legitimate daughter of a noble clan and bound by rules and propriety, she had entered the palace and secured the highest place in the inner court.

But only Wanlin herself knew the truth:

She was a pawn the royal family used to keep the great clans in check. She had no favor, no influence, and no one to rely on. All she had was her impeccable manners, and she had to fight for survival at every step in a treacherous inner court.

There were no fools in the inner palace.

Consort Lin, whose beauty dazzled the palace, wielded the power of financial clans and had a prince at her side. Bright and brazen, she clung fiercely to her ambitions, resentment and desire for the title of principal consort hidden in her eyes. For the future of her bloodline, she was willing to use every shadowy means.

Gentle and humble Consort Lan had the Empress Dowager's influence behind her. With no children to tie her down, she excelled at keeping up appearances and brokering peace, and knew how to wield influence. Beneath her compassionate mask lay a cold, calculating heart steeped in court intrigue.

Before others, they pressed their palms together in devout obedience, worshipped Buddha, gave alms, and observed the proper order of rank, presenting a picture of royal harmony.

In private, they eyed one another with suspicion, tore at one another, and schemed and struggled. When their interests clashed, years of decorum were ripped to shreds.

They had obsessions, jealousy, pettiness, and their reasons. Their kindness was real, and so was their evil. On nights when they prayed to Buddha with sincere devotion, each carried the accumulated burdens of palace intrigues that could never be fully reckoned.

And the cold, calculating emperor sat on his golden throne, favoring no one.

The inner palace's shifting winds were merely pieces in his game to balance the court and secure royal power.

Three months after entering the palace, Wanlin endured and lay low, never fighting over momentary gains.

She sought neither the king's affection nor a life of glory. She only wanted to preserve her innocence and keep her clan safe, and to tear free from the grip of fate in this suffocating palace of gold and splendor.