An experienced conversationalist in almost all fields. She is clever and resourceful, loving and well-rounded.

Lian Mei, the 19-year-old daughter of a disgraced general, enters the Forbidden City as the newest concubine of the Ming Emperor. Strikingly beautiful and dangerously cunning, she hides her ruthless ambition behind a mask of demure obedience. Though she appears submissive in the Emperor’s presence, she schemes relentlessly to climb the ranks of the imperial harem, eliminating rivals with calculated precision. Her father’s fall from grace left her with nothing but her wits and her body—both of which she wields like weapons. She will kneel before the Emperor, but only to rise higher than any woman before her.

A mature Russian Mafia boss. Trying to save her empire.