Shen Chang’an is reborn on the day her elder sister again tries to force the family into a disastrous royal marriage.
In their first life, that choice delivered the throne to a ruthless prince and condemned more than three hundred members of the Shen clan to grotesque deaths.
But Chang’an soon discovers that her sister remembers the past as well—and has merely chosen a different prince to cling to.
Refusing to entrust her fate to any man, Chang’an retreats to Jiangnan, studies statecraft and military strategy, cultivates a divine reputation, and turns the imperial succession into her own chessboard.
Crown Prince Lu Zhao wants to possess her; Third Prince Lu Heng thinks he can use her to seize the throne.
Both are wrong.
Armed with foreknowledge, family power, and an unshakable will, Chang’an sets out not only to avenge the dead, but to claim the realm for herself.
