Banquet at the Eastern Pond

After the late emperor died, the eleven-year-old boy emperor had barely settled onto the throne before ordering the chief minister to confiscate the estates of his royal uncle and the prefect of Shuntian. The capital was plunged into a bloodbath.

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Li Yuanzhen, heir to the Prince of Guangping's household, became Crown Prince's tutor at seventeen and chief minister at twenty-one.

In the third month, before the Tail-Burning Banquet at Dongchi began, Li Yuanzhen met someone who looked remarkably like the former prefect.

Sitting on a handcart, she spoke without a care for etiquette: “Young master, I hear the Prince of Guangping's household is celebrating. The steward sent me to deliver vegetables.”

“Seize her and take her down for questioning.” Li Yuanzhen fixed his gaze on that familiar face and ordered his hidden guards to drag her to the cellar.

After investigating, Li Yuanzhen was certain Xitang was not one of the Lin household's registered daughters. Unable to bring himself to kill her, he sent her into the palace as a maid, where he could keep her under his watch every day.

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Watch Xitang rise from a palace maid to a powerful minister whose name would be remembered in the history books, using her begonia parasol and clever tactics to make foreign powers afraid to invade!

The emperor asked, “Xitang, how about I make you a great general?”

Xitang smiled and waved him off. “No need. I just want to take it easy.”

It wasn't that she was indifferent to fame and fortune. What she truly wanted was something the emperor would never grant.

After the emperor took up the reins of government, rebels staged a palace coup. Xitang slew the traitors and earned great military honors, but the person she cared about was in mortal danger.

In the end, the emperor chose to give his blessing, naming Xitang his sworn elder sister and granting her the title of Princess Protectress of the State.

Once she became a princess, Xitang could no longer take it easy. She had to attend court and help the emperor solve the kingdom's problems.

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Thus it is said: with a military tally held in her embroidered sleeve, a woman, too, can become a powerful minister!

[Alternate history ‖ The heroine grows over time; the hero is inspired by a historical figure. No transmigration, no golden finger, multiple character storylines]