Oppose the Grand Princess's Ascension? Enjoy a Clan-Wiping Game

Political intrigue + powerful heroine + a touch of ensemble cast. Warning: the heroine is a total maniac. Huangfu Aushuang, Princess Pingkang, is the late emperor’s eldest legitimate daughter and the young emperor’s eldest sister. She commands tens of thousands of troops, keeping in check the great clans who are all watching the emperor’s youth and waiting for a chance to make their move. Everyone says she is reckless, arrogant, and defiant of convention, preferring beautiful women to handsome men. What they don’t know is that she was born to become an empress. A prophecy foretold: “When the Vermilion Bird affronts the Purple Enclosure, five generations of prosperity will end. The woman will take the throne and usher in an age of flourishing, then yield it to the north.” Yet the prophecy that a woman would ascend the throne made the late emperor and Empress Dowager deeply wary of her, and she was cursed: “The greater your power, the shorter your life; riches and honor will rob you of blessings. Your life will be cut short, and you will not live past thirty.” But she refused to accept her fate, taking swift and ruthless revenge for her parents. From then on, Huangfu Aushuang contended with the powerful, elevated men of humble birth, investigated corruption, quelled public anger, and rose to the summit of power, enjoying all the splendors of a vast realm.

Yue Nanzhi was a foreign tribute maiden, a gift meant for the emperor, until Huangfu Aushuang snatched her away in the middle of the street. The princess even petitioned the emperor to annul her betrothal to the Duke of Yong for Yue Nanzhi’s sake. Utterly outrageous! Only Yue Nanzhi understood that she was nothing more than a pawn to Huangfu Aushuang. In the princess’s heart, there was only power and not a trace of true affection. She was cut out to be a heartless ruler.

Who will become a willing servant at her feet? Who will be a plaything in her hands?