The Lone Phoenix of the Imperial Palace: The Empress’s Blade and Hairpin

In the thirty-seventh year of Dayao, the late emperor died suddenly, leaving behind his only heir: Princess Chu Weilan, who had just come of age. The powerful ministers pressured her to abdicate, citing the rule that “a woman may not rule from the court.” But Xiao Che, commander of the Imperial Guards, burst into the side hall with a bloodied sword. “If Your Highness is willing to ascend the throne, I will carve a path of blood for Your Majesty.”

Chu Weilan clenched the imperial phoenix seal in her palm, her nails digging into her flesh. “I want this throne not because anyone is granting it to me. I want the world to see that a woman’s imperial robes can rule over these vast lands just as well.”

Three months after her coronation, she removed her hairpins and ornaments and tied up her hair. With a single decree on equal land distribution, she toppled the foundations of the great clans. Yet late at night, facing the late emperor’s memorial tablet, she murmured, “Father, they say I’m not like a woman. But the walls of this palace turned a woman’s weakness into armor long ago.”

Xiao Che was always watching her from the shadows.