[Empresses in the Palace fanfiction] [Female-led]: The Emperor schemes to prove that Zhen Huan's son is not her own child, then demotes her to an official courtesan in revenge. Her two children vanish without a trace as well. Fortunately, Imperial Physician Wen Shichu saves her with his miraculous skills, helping her change her appearance to look like Chun Yuan and creating an opportunity for her to return to the palace. She devotes herself to studying military strategy and the art of governance. After the Emperor is cursed, he loses interest in ruling. Zhen Huan seizes the opportunity to rise to power. To save Princess Longyue, she personally leads an army to crush the Xiongnu. Taking advantage of Great Zhou's recovery, Nanqiong repeatedly invades its territory, so Zhen Huan once again leads an army and annexes Nanqiong. She is drawn into the harem's power struggles, and when the Emperor's hidden illness is cured, she is expelled from the palace and exiled to Dongyi. There, she uses her intelligence and cunning to fight her way through the land until Dongyi is destroyed. At the urging of the officials, she returns to the harem, wins the Emperor's favor, and ascends to the throne as Empress. Yet in secret, she kills the Crown Prince and the princess, leaving every consort in the harem childless. With no one left in the harem to inherit the throne, the devastated Emperor falls under the control of a fruit produced in Xijin, and must eat it every day to remain lucid. Through the officials, she finds her way back to court and destroys Xijin, unifying the realm at last. The Emperor is placed under house arrest in the harem, unable to live or die. Zhen Huan will make him repay her suffering a hundredfold!
