I Am the First Empress

They call me a tyrant.

They say I burned books and buried scholars alive, severing the thread of civilization;

that I ruled with cruel punishments and showed no regard for human life;

that I waged endless wars and left the people with nothing to live on.

They curse me, fear me, hate me.

But they don't know.

I have seen the world two thousand years in the future, and I once scraped out a living in an enemy nation straight out of hell.

I know how fragile civilization is, and I know how terrifying barbarism can be.

In this life, I neither worship ghosts and gods nor believe in fate, and I seek no eternal life.

All I have done is use these bloodstained hands to lay the foundations for lasting peace, for the land and people I love.

I am Ying Zheng, your one and only emperor.

I am the Female Emperor, the First Emperor.