Phoenix Over Rivers and Mountains

Jun Ning was the legitimate daughter of Earl Pingkang and a renowned female general of the State of Bei. In her previous life, she devoted herself entirely to Xiao Yunjie, a prince she rescued from the Cold Palace. She used her family’s influence and the Zhennan Army to help him seize the throne. However, once he became Emperor, he betrayed her. Citing the need for a virtuous and gentle empress, he chose Jun Qingnian, Jun Ning’s half-sister, over her. Xiao Yunjie ordered the massacre of thirty thousand of Jun Ning’s soldiers to clear his path to power and ultimately had her assassinated with an arrow she had personally crafted for him. As she died, Jun Ning vowed to destroy his imperial path in her next life.

Jun Ning awakened in the past, during the forty-third year of Yongchu, at the moment her stepmother, Madam Lou, was having her beaten for allegedly poisoning Madam Lou’s tea. Realizing she had returned to the past, Jun Ning broke free from her bonds and confronted her father and stepfamily. She refused to endure further abuse, slapping Jun Qingnian and asserting her status as the legitimate daughter. She also protected her loyal maid, Yu Zhu, from the fate that had befallen her in the previous life. Jun Ning discovered that a maid named Qing Tao, who had been framed for the poisoning, was actually the person who had saved her life after a previous assassination attempt. Jun Ning spared Qing Tao’s life and kept her secret, using her as an ally.

Xiao Yunjie, the Fifth Prince, returned to the capital and visited Jun Ning, expecting her usual subservience. However, Jun Ning treated him with cold indifference and formal distance. She rejected his attempts to reconcile and made it clear she no longer cared for him. During this encounter, the Fourth Prince, Xiao Moyuan, also known as Prince Xuan, arrived. Blind and disfigured from a past assassination attempt, Xiao Moyuan was considered a useless puppet by the court. Jun Ning, however, recognized his potential and saw through his frail exterior. She realized that Xiao Moyuan was also poisoned and that his condition was not merely physical but political.

Jun Ning decided to change her fate by marrying Xiao Moyuan. She sneaked into his residence at night and proposed marriage, offering him a jade pendant as a token of her sincerity. Although Xiao Moyuan was skeptical of her motives, given her past closeness to Xiao Yunjie, he agreed to the arrangement, seeing it as a way to add interest to his stagnant life. Jun Ning’s elder brother, Tao Yanzhen, returned from the military and warned her against Xiao Yunjie, noting that the prince was unworthy of her trust. Jun Ning confirmed to her brother that she no longer loved Xiao Yunjie and intended to marry Prince Xuan instead.

At the summer banquet, which served as a venue for selecting brides for the princes, Jun Ning wore a striking red dress that outshone Jun Qingnian. She encountered Shen Qingtang, the daughter of the Grand Tutor, who was aligned with Jun Qingnian and intended to sabotage Jun Ning’s reputation. Jun Ning anticipated this and turned the tables by feigning vulnerability and sharing fabricated troubles, causing Shen Qingtang to doubt Jun Qingnian’s sincerity. Jun Ning also received a warning from her concubine-born sister, Jun Rongpei, about Jun Qingnian’s plots. The banquet marked a turning point where Jun Ning publicly distanced herself from Xiao Yunjie and aligned herself with Prince Xuan, setting the stage for her revenge and the dismantling of Xiao Yunjie’s ambitions.