From the Start as a Discarded Princess, I Rise to Become an Emperor for the Ages

[Strong heroine + female-led story + court intrigue + empress + no romance + no male lead + not saintly + invincible + satisfying read + ghg]

The heroine is a crown prince at first, and later publicly declares herself empress.

What could be harder than starting out as a disgraced princess who dies violently in the cold palace, while aiming to become a great enlightened ruler for the ages?

How about a dynasty ruled by eunuchs and powerful ministers, with aristocratic clans controlling the lifeblood of the realm and foreign enemies watching hungrily from beyond its borders? The common people below lack food and clothing, while scholars have no imperial examinations to sit. The aristocratic clans conspire with local authorities and stockpile troops to suppress uprisings.

Jiang Yan sighs deeply and comforts her little System. “It's all right. We'll take it one step at a time.”

She undermines her enemies' power and sets them against one another. Before she has much influence of her own, she is already using the chaos to quietly improve the people's lives.

Years later, she tells the System, “I have done the best I could in this life. My tombstone need not bear any words. Posterity will judge my merits and failings.”

A thousand years later, the history books sum up her remarkable life in just a few short lines.

Jiang Yan, who used the alias of her twin brother Jiang Yan, endured what ordinary people could not and bided her time. During her reign, she brought order to the four corners of the realm and opened routes to every land, appointed people solely on merit, encouraged commerce, promoted agriculture and industry, and improved the imperial examinations. She laid an exceptionally solid foundation for the strength of future Huaxia, and was an unparalleled empress whose achievements were praised by every emperor who came after her.

[The heroine and all her enemies are in a relationship of life or death, and reconciliation is absolutely impossible. Every one of her schemes strikes a fatal blow. This is pure wish fulfillment, so read without worry.]

A few quotes

“After more than a decade of ups and downs in the world of commerce, why would I want hairpins and ornaments?”

“With a red-tasseled spear, I can hold back ten thousand foes. Who dares mock you as a woman?”

“One literary essay can surpass ten thousand volumes. If I don't become top scholar, I'll have lived this life in vain.”