A Lone Spark in the Dark / A Spark in the Dark

“Drifting like duckweed upon the vast rivers—forever afloat, with no roots to cling to.”Fu Ping had no parents, no shelter to rely on. Born in the lowest slum of the capital, her striking beauty instead became a death warrant. Once she grew into it, she would be torn apart by a pack of ravenous wolves. One day, a gilded imperial phoenix carriage crushed through the wind and snow of the slums. The two most exalted figures under heaven stood before her and brought her back to the palace. From then on, Fu Ping became Princess Mingzhu, the most treasured jewel of Yongzhao, vaulting overnight into the depths of the ninefold palace halls. Yet behind the splendor lay nothing more than a dream built upon murder. Her benevolent imperial father imprisoned her; her gentle imperial mother strangled her; her immaculate, white-robed crown prince brother pointed a long sword at her. And Lin Zechuan, the man who had promised her a lifetime together, cast her aside without hesitation. Her fingertips soaked in mud and blood, Fu Ping crawled inch by inch over the countless corpses of the mass grave. Carrying a heart full of hatred and bitterness, she sought to plunge the entire royal house into utter chaos. May the boundless hatred of this wretched life topple the towering imperial power itself.