Forced by her parents to take her younger brother's place and enter the palace as a eunuch, she fights her way up from the lowest ranks of the Cold Palace to become the powerful head of the Eastern Depot, commanding influence throughout the imperial court. Disguised as a man for twelve years, she is ruthless and decisive, and no one ever sees through her disguise. Crown Prince Hong Che stands by her through life and death, secretly pledging his heart to her. But she is single-mindedly devoted to helping him ascend the throne so she can become the Ninth Thousand Years. She brings down princes, tears apart the favored imperial consort, and exposes a major conspiracy to rebel, navigating one deadly trap after another. Yet who could have guessed that the new emperor's very first imperial decree would be to appoint her as empress? She firmly refuses, knowing that an empress is nothing more than a caged bird. What she wants is to rule the empire alongside Hong Che. When the blade no longer needs to remain hidden in her sleeve, and a woman stands proudly in the imperial court, witness how one powerful head of the Eastern Depot takes control of her own imperial destiny and rewrites the fate ordained by heaven!