Who Says We Have No Clothes? We’ll Share Our Robes

(Pure historical romance, no transmigration, rebirth, or golden finger + ensemble cast + female disguised as a man + political intrigue + a cast full of villains)

The year Yuan Yu was born was a turbulent one. The emperor trusted occultists and let treacherous officials manipulate him, plunging the capital into bloodshed.

Her father, the prince, took his own life, and her elder brother was sacrificed to Heaven. Her mother, Empress Zhao, risked everything and pulled off a switch at birth, rewriting the fate of Yuan Yu and the Prince of Yongzhao's household.

But misfortune never comes alone. Fourteen years later, Dasheng was defeated, and Yuan Yu was forced to leave home and go to the Northern Di as a hostage in the crown prince's place.

She thought she would never return, but when the emperor suddenly died and war engulfed the land, a new turn came in Yuan Yu's life.

After countless twists and turns, and through painstaking effort, Yuan Yu finally ascended the throne as the sole legitimate blood heir of the imperial family.

According to plan, everything should now have been settled. Unexpectedly, her hidden true identity and the real crisis she would have to face were only just beginning...

(A friendly warning: this is not a wish-fulfillment story or a tale of a strong heroine. The protagonist is a refined but morally flawed woman, two-faced at times, and occasionally lacking in morals; she is selfish and self-serving. There are no official couples in the story, though there are a few subtle one-sided feelings. The official ranks are generally modeled on those of the Western Han, with a few details invented by the author. Please don't take it as historically exact.)

(Also, the author is reluctant to have the heroine earn points with men while living as a man, so she will definitely return to her female identity later on. If that bothers you, think twice before reading.)