kotchanipa

Amid the softly falling snow in the Cold Palace courtyard, Princess Xianlan drew her final breath—silently.

She had been falsely accused of poisoning the Crown Prince, brutally flogged until her body was torn, and imprisoned without a shred of mercy—
all part of a cruel scheme orchestrated by Noble Consort Su Zhen, her stepmother, whose gentle appearance masked a heart of poison.

Meanwhile, the Emperor of Li—the very man who claimed to love her above all—never realized that the only daughter he cherished had been crushed to death by the hands of the one he trusted most.

But the heavens showed mercy.

Xianlan opened her eyes once more, reborn into her eight-year-old self—
in the time before everything shattered.

This time… she would not be a worthless pawn in a game of power.
She would become the master strategist, toppling each of her enemies one by one.

With icy composure and razor-sharp wit, Xianlan hid in the shadows, slowly gathering evidence, allies, and influence within the palace.
And fate brought her an unexpected ally—

Feng Yuhan, Crown Prince of the Southern Yan Kingdom, known as the “Winter Tiger.”
Cold, brilliant, and seemingly heartless—yet from their first meeting, something in her eyes held his gaze.

Together, they moved in the darkness.
Xianlan laid the plans. Feng Yuhan executed them.

As the Kingdom of Li fell into the depths of political games—
As vipers hissed behind silken smiles in the inner palace—
As even a father’s love could be twisted by deceit—

⸻

When the phoenix returns to her nest—she will never again let anyone trample her.
The will of the heavens may be written in ink…
But Xianlan will rewrite fate in the blood of her enemies.

Rebirth of the Phoenix Empress

Midnight under the new moon.

The mist veiled the imperial palace so thickly that even the torchlight quivered, on the brink of extinguishing at every breath of wind.

In a hidden corner of the secondary residence of the Fourth Princess — Luosu Hall — a noblewoman stood behind a bamboo curtain, her silver-lotus-embroidered robe shimmering faintly under the moonless sky. Her gaze was cold, still, and sharp as a frozen mirror.

Princess of an allied kingdom — a woman cloaked in both the prestige of her homeland and the favor of foreign envoys within the Xianyue court.

A pale white cloth pouch, containing a powder so refined that even the palace physicians would struggle to identify it at first glance.

"Once she drinks this tomorrow… her strength will drain like water from dry earth. Should she face foreign guests or high officials, the shame will be so great she'd never stand tall again in the inner court."

A whisper floated from a maid behind her.

"Lady Jiang… Are you sure this is the right path?" the maid asked quietly.

Only a few paces away, Jiang Xinluo stood hidden among the shadow of plum trees.

A spy veiled as a foreign diplomat.

Her expression betrayed no emotion, yet within her eyes flickered the memory of Xianlan's guarded but never hateful smile.

"She'll weaken… be trampled… and finally, she'll withdraw from this political game."

Bai Yue Ning's voice remained calm and cold. She placed the pouch onto the tea tray meant for Xianlan and disappeared into the shadows.

The next morning,

before dawn touched the clouds, Jiang Xinluo slipped silently into Luosu Hall through the unguarded southern servants' gate.

She walked straight to the tea room, opened the pouch, and inhaled its faint aroma.

"Draining herb compound… but disguised too well to discern."

With the precision of a trained spy, she replaced the contents with fine-ground barley powder, then resealed the pouch and set it back as if untouched.

In her sleeve, she now hid the original poisoned pouch.

Xianlan drank her tea without suspicion.

She sipped, then set it down — showing no signs of discomfort.

"This tea… has a slightly richer scent than usual."

"Whose recipe is this?" she asked calmly.

"It's a new blend from the outer tea house near Yuehong Hall, Your Highness. Someone sent it to us yesterday."

Xianlan said no more, but her gaze sharpened.

She began to suspect… that someone had tried to reach her in silence.

Jiang Xinluo returned to her guest chamber in her role as foreign envoy.

Her hand clutched the pouch so tightly her fingers turned pale.

"The first time… I disobeyed an order."

"The first time… I chose something no one told me to do."

Her voice was little more than a murmur.

But it was a step — her first — away from the shadows she once followed without question.

✨ Thank you for reading this chapter of Rebirth of the Phoenix Empress!If you're enjoying Xianlan's journey, please add this story to your Library, leave a comment, or tap a heart 💖 — your support truly fuels the fire!

The Devil’s Hand Beneath the Silk Veil