Celebrating a Thousand Autumns

I want our names to live on in the history books for all eternity.

[A heroine who values her life and freedom, and grows over time. Weak at first, but never helpless.]

The male emperor who appears early on is only a supporting character. There is no male lead.

What is it like for a law-abiding citizen to open her eyes and find herself a prisoner?

A scene of torture from a period drama is playing out. A red-hot branding iron is about to touch her face when the chief examiner says in a sinister voice, “Are you going to talk or not?”

Talk about what? Zhou Qinghe is completely dumbfounded.

“Carry out the sentence!”

Hey, they’re trying to force a confession out of me! How could a dignified woman like me ever… refuse to bend when I need to?

“I’ll talk, I’ll tell you everything! Ask me anything! Um, could you move that thing farther away?”

To save her own life, Zhou Qinghe makes a decision that goes against everything her ancestors taught her.

Later…

She curses out pedantic scholars at court and establishes an academy in the imperial palace, stirring up a storm throughout Great Qi.

So what if they call her a treacherous minister or a wicked woman? As long as the emperor favors her, she is The Outcast, second only to one and superior to all others. But Zhou Qinghe has always understood that fickle hearts have been the lesson paid for in the blood and tears of countless people.

Do not say women are not heroes. We dare to make the sun and moon shine on a new world.

Wu Zhaoming thought her life would always be this way.

Born a daughter, she relied on her mother and elder brother in the first half of her life, then on her husband and son in the second.

She simply let herself go, becoming a willful, unruly princess. But Zhou Qinghe made her suddenly realize that another life was possible: she could build an enduring legacy and accomplish deeds unmatched by anyone before her.

So she braved every obstacle and set out on a path she had never imagined.