The female supporting character is excessively beautiful

Jiang Zhuo lived a tragic existence as a supporting character in a world where Shen Guanzhi was the destined protagonist. Born the only daughter of Deputy Minister Jiang Dun, she was renowned as one of the two great beauties of the capital. At fifteen, she won the hand of Prince Jing Zhao Mingjing after a brilliant pipa performance at the Qionghua Banquet. However, her father was soon implicated in a factional purge, leading to the confiscation of the family estate and exile. Stripped of her status, Jiang Zhuo became a lowly concubine in Prince Jing’s manor, where she was neglected and abused. She was subsequently passed to Marquis Wuwei Ling Heng, who loved her only for her beauty. When she was disfigured by a servant named Bitong, Ling Heng discarded her. She then fell into the hands of Xie Guanlan, the feared General Yama, and died in misery in a damp servant’s quarters in Sichuan, watching from beyond the grave as Shen Guanzhi married her former fiancé and rose to become Empress.

Upon her death, Jiang Zhuo’s soul drifted until a kind nobleman, moved by her suffering, gave her a proper burial. This act of compassion allowed her to reincarnate. She awoke in a meditation room at Baima Temple on the eve of the Qionghua Banquet, finding herself back in her younger body with no scars and her loyal maid Tonghua by her side. Holding a fortune slip with cryptic verses, she realized she had been given a second chance. Her first instinct was to avoid the fate that had destroyed her. She encountered a young Xie Guanlan, who was then an unknown candidate for the martial exams, and deliberately distanced herself from him to avoid entanglement. She also reunited with Shen Guanzhi, her former friend, and resolved to prevent the jealousy and betrayal that had severed their sisterhood in the previous life.

At the Qionghua Banquet, Jiang Zhuo made a calculated decision to decline the opportunity to marry Prince Jing. When the Empress Dowager offered her a wish, Jiang Zhuo stated that she only wished to devote herself to music, effectively rejecting the path to becoming a princess consort. This shocked Shen Guanzhi, who had expected Jiang Zhuo to compete for the prince’s hand. Instead, Shen Guanzhi caught the Empress Dowager’s attention and was granted a jade pendant, signaling her rise. Jiang Zhuo’s refusal, however, drew the ire of the imperial family. Shortly after, her father Jiang Dun, who had been planning to retire due to political pressure, received a decree from the Empress Dowager ordering Jiang Zhuo to enter the palace as a Sixth-Rank Assistant Musician in the Bureau of Etiquette. This was a punitive measure designed to humble the defiant official’s daughter.

Jiang Zhuo accepted the decree to protect her father from further retaliation, but this decision caused a rift with Jiang Dun. He viewed her acceptance as disobedience and severed ties with her, refusing to speak to her before she entered the palace. Alone and estranged from her family, Jiang Zhuo entered the palace with only Tonghua. She navigated the hierarchical and often hostile environment of the Etiquette Bureau with caution, forming tentative alliances with fellow music officers Qin Liuyun and Tao Tao. Her primary goal was survival and finding a way to alter the fate of her family, who were still at risk of political downfall.

The narrative takes a dangerous turn when Jiang Zhuo is assigned to serve at Marquis Wuwei Ling Heng’s birthday banquet. Recognizing the threat Ling Heng posed, she attempted to avoid him. However, while searching for a missing musician in the back courtyards, she encountered Bitong, the servant who had disfigured her in her past life. Bitong, still harboring resentment from her previous punishment, lured Jiang Zhuo into a sealed room with the intent to drug and assault her. Jiang Zhuo, armed with memories of the future, recognized the trap immediately. She fought back, using a hairpin as a weapon, and managed to escape the room just as Ling Heng arrived. This narrow escape confirmed that her past life’s tragedies were not fixed and that she must remain vigilant against those who sought to harm her.

In the aftermath, Jiang Zhuo realized that her reincarnation had not erased the dangers of her previous existence. She was now a palace official with no family support, surrounded by powerful men like Ling Heng and Prince Jing who viewed women as objects. She also noticed that Xie Guanlan, the man who had buried her in her past life, was present in the capital, still an unknown scholar-official. Jiang Zhuo resolved to change her destiny, not by seeking the love of princes or marquis, but by using her knowledge of future events to protect herself and her father. She began to navigate the complex court politics with a calm demeanor, determined to avoid the pitfalls that had destroyed her in her previous life. The story follows her struggle to maintain her independence and dignity in a system designed to crush women like her, while uncovering the true motives behind her father’s political troubles and the hidden agendas of the imperial family.