Pheasant Prisoner

She died in Weiyang Palace and opened her eyes at twenty. Tomorrow, she was to marry Liu Bang. She ran away. She joined Xiang Liang, recruited Han Xin, enlisted women soldiers, and fought her way south. The common people called her a wise ruler. Her enemies called her a madwoman. But the soldiers in her camp refused to accept her because she was a woman. At a gathering of the lords, they called her "a hen crowing at dawn." Her most trusted nephew burned the grain stores and defected to Liu Bang. Han Xin was killed, and A Qing took a blade meant for her. Only three hundred people remained by her side.

On the night she was captured, a guard said, "A woman should never have been a lord in the first place." She smiled. For two lifetimes, she had been begging the world to accept her. In her previous life, she tied herself to Liu Bang, and when he refused to acknowledge her, she went mad. In this life, she conquered the realm herself, thinking that if she claimed the throne rightfully, she would finally be respected. But whether she claimed it rightfully or not, they would never accept her. Because she was a woman.

Before her execution, she said only one thing: "I, Lu Zhi, stood my ground." The history books recorded only eight words: "Lu Zhi rebelled, was defeated, and died."