My Great Eastern Empire

Reborn: A Bloody Beginning. I, Su Shang, woke from excruciating pain. It seemed alive, burrowing in through every pore and ravaging my entire body. At first, my mind was in a haze, as if I were lost in a fog, while the magnificent surroundings swayed before my eyes like phantoms. As my vision gradually cleared, I saw a palace with carved beams and painted rafters, glittering with gold, a bed laid with brocade, and exquisite furnishings so lavish they bordered on extravagance. Yet none of it brought me the slightest joy.

Memories of my past kept flooding into my mind: a life spent being driven like a beast of burden. I remembered laboring desperately in the dark, struggling like an ant for the meager supplies I needed to survive. I had no dignity, no hope, only endless exhaustion and the condemnation and abuse of others. Their words were like sharp blades, cutting into my heart again and again, leaving my already battered soul drenched in blood.

And now, I had somehow found myself in the midst of the Great Dong Empire’s most brutal power struggle. I didn’t understand why I had been reborn, or whether this rebirth was fate’s favor or yet another cruel joke. I was terrified; my body trembled, and cold sweat soaked my back. This magnificent palace looked like heaven, but in truth it was more terrifying than hell. Here, power was the only pass you needed, while conspiracies and killings were an everyday occurrence.