From Ashes, a Jewel

In the capital of Yongzhao, a girl in the poorest quarter with no parents and no household behind her has her looks counted against her. She is expected to be torn apart by the pack once she is grown. Fu Ping is such a girl. A gilded phoenix carriage comes through the wind and snow of the slum one day and the two highest people in the realm step down in front of her and take her back to the palace. She is made Princess Mingzhu of Yongzhao and moves overnight into the inner halls. Inside the palace her imperial father has her body confined, the empress who had spoken gently to her draws a length of soft silk around her throat, and her younger brother the crown prince turns a sword on her. Lin Zechuan, who had promised to grow old with her, throws her out like a worn shoe. Fu Ping comes out of the burial ground on her hands and knees over the bodies stacked there, with mud and blood on her fingers, carrying what she means to do to the imperial house.