They said the Crown Prince's palace was carved from dragon bone and gold, but I remembered the scent of it first…the cold rot of sandalwood ash and dried lotus blossoms burned in ritual, thick enough to choke.
I remembered the silence.
Not the silence of peace. The silence of anticipation. The silence of a thousand eyes pretending not to watch me die.
There were no drums at my execution, no weeping, no crowd murmurs. Just the creak of the gallows, the silk rope looped like a necklace around my neck, and the distant rustling of sleeves as ministers turned their backs. Even the wind held its breath.
"Zhen Liya, daughter of Officer Zhen by his concubine, charged with treason, attempted regicide, and poisoning of Her Highness the Crown Princess."
The eunuch's voice rang out with ceremonial coldness. I stood barefoot on the wooden platform, wrists bound with red silk, my once-white ceremonial robe stained with ash, tea, and shame. My hair had been unpinned and tangled by the guards, but I kept my chin high.
I saw familiar faces among the crowd. Ministers who once praised my virtue. Noble ladies who once shared tea with me. Every gaze that flicked away burned itself into my bones. None had come to plead for me.
They said I poisoned the Crown Princess. That I plotted against the heir. Lies.
But I no longer cared.
They dressed me in bridal robes to die.
And still, I did not cry.
In the front row, Lady Ning Xiu stood draped in pale jade and moonlight. Serene. Elegant. A face trained to betray nothing. Behind her, the Crown Prince..Xuan Zhi…watched, his lips a flat line. No protest. No mercy.
He had kissed me once beneath the peach blossoms, whispered that I was different.
He had signed my death with those same hands.
I felt the noose tighten behind my neck.
"Any last words?" the eunuch asked.
I turned my head slightly. My eyes found Ning Xiu's.
"May your dynasty rot from the roots."
And the trapdoor fell.
I awoke choking. Not on blood,on porridge.
My lungs burned. My hands flailed. Something warm and lumpy spilled across my chest.
"Oi! Are you mad?! You were unconscious for a day and now you're wasting food?"
Jin Su. I knew her voice before I saw her face. Round, impatient, smug. A maidservant who once took joy in slapping the youngest daughter of the Zhen household when no one was looking.
I stared at her like she was a ghost.
She stared back. "What are you gaping at me for? Get up! You're not dead!"
But I was.
I had been. I felt it. I remembered the snap of the rope. The cold. The fading light. The silence.
And now,I sat up. Too fast. My head spun and the world tilted sideways. I caught the edge of the bamboo mat to steady myself.
No bruises. No rope marks. My neck ached, but it wasn't broken. My body felt young. Light. My bones too small.
I stumbled to the bronze mirror across the room, barely noticing Jin Su's curses.
The face that stared back was one I hadn't seen in years.
Fourteen. No older than fourteen.
Thin. Pale. Big eyes that hadn't yet dulled with disappointment. A mouth too soft for the curses I wanted to hurl.
I touched my reflection.
"Impossible."
"If you're done playing, get dressed," Jin Su snapped. "Lady Zhao said you're to scrub the back pond until you can see your reflection in it."
Lady Zhao. My stepmother. Ice and poison wrapped in silk.
I knew this room. The servant quarters. I knew that voice. I knew that command.
I knew this moment.
I was back.
Back before the palace. Back before the wedding. Back before they chose me instead of Rouya. Before I was sacrificed like a lamb to the lions.
My hands shook.
The gods had not spared me. They had thrown me back.
They had given me a second chance.
I scrubbed the pond until my fingers bled.
The water was icy, the stones slick with moss. I scrubbed harder. The more my skin broke open, the more I welcomed the pain. It reminded me this was real.
Servants whispered behind my back.
"Did you hear? The Emperor is choosing a consort for the Crown Prince."
"Zhen Rouya might be chosen. She wore the Temple Offering robes like a proper lady."
Rouya.
The legitimate daughter. My half-sister. The beloved jewel of Lady Zhao.
In my last life, she wept and said, "I'm not strong like you, Liya. I couldn't handle the palace. Go in my place. You always do what's right."
And I had gone. I had served tea. Smiled. Obeyed and Died.
This time, I would not be a replacement.
I would be the reckoning.
That night, I waited until the entire household slept before I crept to the ancestral shrine.
The incense was stale. Cobwebs hung from the altar. My mother's name plaque sat at the very bottom, tucked behind others.
They never honored her. A concubine's spirit was treated like dust.
I lit the candles by hand. One by one. I knelt.
"I failed you."
My voice trembled. But I did not cry.
"I let them treat me like a spare cloth. I thought if I was good, if I endured, they would protect me. They sent me to the wolves. I was strangled under the sky while they drank tea."
I bowed low, my forehead touching the cold stone.
"But I am not that girl anymore. I will never be again."
I looked up at her name.
"This time, I will be the villain. And they will all pay."
The flames flared. A breeze stirred. The candles guttered and glowed brighter.
Omen or madness?
It didn't matter.I rose and I smiled.
The imperial decree came like thunder and lightning in a heavy storm.
"A consort must be selected for His Highness the Crown Prince. A fertile girl from a good family."
The household descended into hysteria. Lady Zhao fainted theatrically. Rouya sobbed for hours.
"I can't go! I can't live in the palace!" Rouya cried. "Mother, please! I'm too delicate for palace life."
Lady Zhao clutched her to her breast. "My poor flower. This isn't fair! Liya!"
She turned to me.
"Be useful for once. Tell them you want to go."
I stepped forward.
"I'll go."
Rouya stilled. Lady Zhao blinked. My father, who had remained silent at his desk, finally looked up.
"You would?"
I bowed.
"It is my honor. And my duty."
Rouya narrowed her eyes.
"You're not thinking you can win his heart, are you?" she sneered. "You're just a servant's daughter."
I met her gaze without flinching.
"The palace needs obedience, not beauty."
She flinched.
Lady Zhao clapped. "Excellent. You always were the quiet one. Go and be forgotten."
I smiled.
This time, I would not be forgotten.
This time, I would carve my name into the walls of the palace.
This time,
I would write my story in blood and gold..
I will become the empress,I will rule their court,I will destroy their strong holds,turn their alliances to enemies and I will ride on heavens winds