Chen Li, once a small-town exam ace in his previous life, transmigrated and was raised by an old soldier on the frontier, growing up in the saddle. Yet at the palace exams, he crushed the sons of aristocratic clans and great houses despite being a commoner, and was personally named top scholar by the reigning female emperor, who disguised herself as a man!
He never expected that the powerful nobles and clans would never tolerate a crude commoner, someone not even worthy of being called a poor scholar, breaking their monopoly on power. The officials threatened the emperor by submitting their resignations, then offered her enormous benefits to have Chen Li executed on a fabricated charge.
"If even poor scholars can barely produce a worthy son, what chance does a mere commoner have? Do you think you're worthy of the top scholar's scarlet robe?"
"A thousand-year-old clan exists to crush your ten years of hard study!"
The female emperor berated them to their faces, but then turned around and used someone else to do her dirty work. She wanted the benefits and the reputation, all of it. What did sacrificing one insignificant commoner matter if it meant becoming the greatest female emperor in history?
A scholar is useless in every way.
Chen Li gave a self-mocking smile and took up martial cultivation again. All he wished for was the blade in his hand, to cut down every injustice in the world!
In letters, the Nine Kingdoms were a board, and all living beings were pieces. One move, and a kingdom fell.
In martial arts, with heaven-defying comprehension, he deduced the path of cultivation. I am the Martial Emperor, suppressing every enemy.
Many years later, when Chen Li split open the gates of heaven with a sword and cleaved the Great Sui capital with his blade, a million iron cavalrymen behind him trampled the powerful clans and aristocratic houses underfoot. He gazed at the peerlessly beautiful female emperor standing atop the city wall, her black hair disheveled and tears streaking her face, and smiled faintly.
"A commoner isn't worthy of being the top scholar? Your Majesty, do you regret it now?"
Reborn in the Jurassic: I Begin My Extraordinary Evolution with Dinosaurs
My Winter Homework Was Livestreamed, and the Police Asked Me to Register
We Met After Online Dating, and I Accidentally Had My Father-in-Law Arrested
I Was Just Playing GTA 6, So How Did I Become a Fugitive?
Reborn in 1989: Building Bureau 749 from Scratch!
A Policewoman Asked Me to Marry Her, and the Nation Wants Me to Step Up
Transfer Me 500 Yuan, and I'll Fly to Your Wedding on My Sword
While she doesn't have any major flaws, she also has no outstanding strengths. The Empress kills this and that, yet she's suppressed by the powerful clans, and no one rebels against her?
Author, are you a greyhound? It's so short! Do you know the most painful thing for a reader is that every time you get to the most exciting part, that yellowish-brown button appears?
So far it's not bad, but the current 50 chapters barely qualify as the start of the book. Keep up the good work, take it easy and steady, and if it stays consistent later on, it could be a great book.
Get up and write!