In the forty-second year of the Zheng dynasty, Feng Jin Xuan was born as the daughter of the Right Chancellor, Feng Liu Shu and the adopted princess of the dynasty's imperial family, Sun Mu Dan. She was the first daughter of the Feng family in five generations, so of course, she would be doted on more than any princess. A child like this, would undoubtedly grow up to be arrogant and headstrong, though she was also kind and naive. Her naivety most of all lied in her blind love for the sixth prince, Sun Lei Fen.
After marrying him, she diligently assisted him for four years to fulfil his ambition, and two years as his empress. She grew from a young girl who knew nothing about the world to a wife who could give advice.
With her love for him unwavering, she sacrificed and did everything she could for him. However, two years after he ascended the throne, he broke his promise and took in hundreds of concubines. Although disheartened, she still fought for his favor, but in a few months, she and her family was framed several times and stripped of her title, sentenced to live in the cold palace.
"Your Highness the Empress...ah, Bengong said the wrong title," Yao Jia Rou, her former husband's favorite consort spoke mockingly, with a glint of delight in her eyes, "Disposed Empress Feng, Bengong will grant you this knife; oh, on the way, do send good words about Bengong to King Yama."
After Yao Jia Rou left, her maid had grabbed the sharp knife and stabbed it into Feng Jin Xuan's abdomen. After the maid left, she found out that by some heavenly luck, she survived.
If Heaven allows her to live, then she will live. With the help of her childhood friend, Cheng Wei Min, she escaped from the place that imprisoned her for nine years, the imperial palace. Now out of the palace, she adventures along with Cheng Wei Min to hone her character, fix her mistakes, and recover what she had lost.
When history professor Miranda Chen wakes up in the body of a palace maid in an alternate imperial China, she discovers she's been gifted with a mysterious "System" that promises one thing: follow its tasks, and she'll rise to become Empress.
But in the deadly halls of the Western Aurelian Empire, where poison flows as freely as wine and whispers carry more power than swords, Miranda will need more than modern knowledge to survive. As she navigates labyrinthine politics and ancient traditions, her strange abilities catch the attention of the enigmatic Emperor Alexander-a man bound by duty yet haunted by the golden cage of his inheritance.
What begins as political maneuvering evolves into forbidden glances, secret meetings in moonlit gardens, and an alliance neither of them expected. With each level she gains in the System, Miranda uncovers not just new powers, but deeper conspiracies threatening the empire. The cold-eyed Dowager Empress watches her every move, while jealous concubines plot her downfall and ambitious ministers circle like vultures.
As Miranda rises from invisible servant to the emperor's most trusted confidante, she must answer the question burning in her heart: Is she using the System to manipulate her way to power, or has she truly fallen for the one man she can never have? And when the moment of choice arrives, will Alexander choose centuries of tradition or risk everything for a love that defies the very foundations of his empire?
In a world where every smile hides a dagger and every courtesy masks calculation, Miranda will discover that the greatest power isn't granted by any System-it's forged in the crucible of survival, sacrifice, and the courage to rewrite destiny itself.