A scandal in the palace garden—an embroidered red undergarment, a ruined maid, and three people who should never have met: an emperor who hides a body, a merciless regent who owes his life to a girl, and a handsome envoy whose arrival will break fragile peace. Josephine Meyer, the easy‑smiling Empress of Harbor City, likes cold desserts and avoids court quarrels—until an invented scandal forces her to act. When a public assassination attempt turns her protection into blood and confessing eyes, Josephine must navigate knives in the banquet hall, a regent who saves her with brutal grace, and an emperor whose heart is already promised to the envoy from Dazhou. This is the story of a restless palace: favors bought and stolen, a shield that keeps getting wounded, and an empress who learns that keeping the throne means choosing whom to hurt and whom to hold. Loyalties will be tested; power will be reshaped. The choice Josephine makes will decide who survives the palace—and who falls.
18 Chapters
