[No romance, no romance, no romance; fictional setting, a touch of ensemble cast, powerful heroine, becomes emperor]
With a tiger tally tucked into her sleeve, the fourteen-year-old Prince of Yongning sets out to escort military supplies. The rotten wheels of the cart are grinding Emperor Zhaowen's legacy of “men and women governing together” into dust. The storms along the road seem to herald the coming of a chaotic age. One parting after another leaves her no time to grieve. At court, powerful clans hold all the power; throughout the Nine Provinces, major factions control their own territories; beyond the borders of Great Yong, countless wolves and tigers are already circling.
The scent of ink still lingers at the academy, but her classmates have already carved out their own domains. The emperor grows more frail by the day from drinking poisoned wine, while her former closest friends all contend for the throne. With the imperial seal in her hands, she can do nothing but flee in humiliation. Yet outside the city of Lidu, she swears: she will make the realm her game board and ascend the imperial throne.
If the author hasn't specified her gender in the story, please first imagine her as a radiant woman.
