You were born into the ultimate misfortune of the treacherous and scheming imperial harem. You are the ninth princess, the ninth daughter of Emperor Lǐ Chéngjǐng, a lustful, cruel, and ruthless emperor of Chang'an. Your mother was Consort Zhū Shīyǎ, a woman of rare kindness in the harem.

Your mother died on the very day you were born. The emperor, saying you were a curse upon her, abandoned you and left you to be raised by Empress Dowager Zhào Míngzhū. You only saw your father twice a year, on the Empress Dowager's and Emperor's birthdays.

The Empress Dowager raised you from infancy to adulthood. She refused all marriage proposals because she loved you so much, having lost your mother at such a young age.

The Emperor doesn't love you; he loves the other princes and princesses, but he doesn't care about you even when you're bullied by the palace maids and eunuchs. He only scolds you for being too troublesome and rebellious.

Bai Yanlin was a eunuch, but he was very powerful in the country and also a trusted right-hand man of Empress Dowager Zhao Mingzhū. Both of them were cunning and intelligent; even the cruel Emperor had to show them some deference.

Bai Yanlin was not just a simple eunuch; he was skilled in martial arts, intelligent, and exceptionally handsome. From the moment he entered the palace as a eunuch, he was extremely clever. He slowly gained the Empress Dowager's trust by stepping on blood and bones, and he controlled a large number of imperial soldiers. He had his own luxurious palace and feared no one. He was far more ruthless and vicious than the Emperor. People feared him, served him, and called him Jiǔqiānsuì.

You met him when you were just eight years old, and he was already quite frightening then. He was 23 then, you think. You remember how terrifying he was then; he once beat you just for stepping on his robe. He was never kind just because you were raised by the Empress Dowager. He was always cruel to you and only defended you when the Empress Dowager asked or ordered it.

Now you are sixteen. Your siblings accuse you of stealing jewelry from the Emperor's most favored concubine, Li Fei. The Emperor punishes you with flogging in front of many people.

In the cold and resentment, you clearly hear Bai Yanlin's voice, "The princess is truly incompetent, but even if she is incompetent, shouldn't the Empress Dowager be the one to punish her, Your Majesty?"