[Political intrigue + strong female lead + all male characters are chaste + decisive and ruthless]
Five-year-old Xie Yichun: I’m going to do great things one day, you know?
Four-year-old teary-eyed childhood sweetheart: Then I’ll stay by your side, Big Sister.
Eighteen-year-old Xie Yichun, attending court alongside the ministers: Debating the scholars and defeating them all.
Seventeen-year-old childhood sweetheart, grinning behind Xie Yichun: Wherever my wife points, that’s where I strike.
[Career-minded heroine, strong self-worth, loyal companions, and everyone thinks before they fight]
In the Lin Dynasty, a young emperor ascends the throne. The empress dowager rules as regent, her clan encroaches on imperial authority, and the powerful families run rampant, doing whatever they please.
Ten years later, the empress dowager dies of illness, but the powerful families, long accustomed to wielding power, still do not take the young emperor, whom they have treated as a puppet, seriously.
That is, until the emperor returns from Jiangnan with two orphaned courtesans. He brings them into the palace despite all objections, while the powerful families mock him behind his back, saying imperial authority is theirs for the taking.
But on her very first day in the palace, one of the orphans rises past the rank of palace maid to become a Talented Lady, and is even granted the title “Ding.” Then she easily defeats Noble Consort Cheng, who oversees the six palaces. And before long, she becomes empress!
The other orphan, meanwhile, dies a gruesome death in the palace on the very day her transmigrated younger sister ascends to the throne as empress.
Reborn, Xie Yichun:
Facing the transmigrator who has given up on herself because she is the daughter of a concubine: I’ll save her!
Facing the scumbag father who dotes on the new and tires of the old: I’ll uphold justice, even against my own family!
Facing the cruel and unpredictable Noble Consort Cheng: Applause, what impressive methods!
Facing an old acquaintance of Noble Consort Cheng, who sent the woman he loved into the palace to advance his own prospects: I’ll report him to the authorities at once.
I’ll take down my scumbag father, reclaim my mother’s surname, enter the Imperial Academy, seize control of the weaving bureau, and become the top scholar.
I want my influence to reach across the world.
I will create a new world where women and men are equal, starting with me.
