I Don’t Have to Be This Empress

The heroine is the legitimate daughter of a military family and deeply in love with the hero, Xiao Heng. She gives everything her family has and supports him wholeheartedly as he rises from a disgraced prince to the throne. At first, she is gentle and patient, making herself small for love. But he favors his white-moonlight sweetheart, suspects and suppresses her, then casts her aside and uses her. After disaster strikes her family, her heart dies completely. She lies low and escapes the imperial palace, rising step by step through political strategy, medicine, and military and administrative skill. In the end, she wields power as a regent empress, independent of the throne and revered by the people. She cuts off all ties to love, sees the world clearly, and looks down upon all beneath her. This novel and its characters are entirely fictional. Any resemblance to actual people or events is purely coincidental. Do not imitate.