Reborn in Empresses in the Palace: Save the Cannon...

The thick, warm darkness wraps around you like swathes of soft silk, muffled distant sounds seeping through the walls of the palace chamber surrounding the woman who carries you.

The faint chime of a midnight gong, the quiet rustle of a maid’s silk robe as she stands guard outside, and the soft, steady breathing of your mother filter through the void.

In a rush, the memories of your past life flood back: you binged the entire series of *Empresses in the Palace*, a show that laid bare the brutal, bloodless wars of Emperor Yongzheng’s imperial harem, where even the slightest misstep could lead to a painful, forgotten death.

You realize with a jolt that you have been reborn into this very world, as the unborn child of a concubine fated to become just another forgotten corpse left to rot in the harem’s unmarked graves.

Unless you seize control of your fate, starting with the first choice that will define every moment of your life in the Forbidden City.

The gender you choose at birth will shape the privileges you can access, the alliances you can build, and the dangers you will face from the first moment you are presented to the imperial court.