They said that the legitimate daughter of the Shen family, the Minister of Rites, who was once a famous and talented woman in Beijing, has now become an abandoned wife of the royal family, and her life is over.
Concubine Shu, who framed me, sent someone to deliver a bowl of cold rice and said lightly: "Sister, these are the days ahead for you, so take your time."
My father, the old minister who had been demoted, poured the bowl of rice into the dog basin in front of the envoy.
My brother, the young general guarding Northern Xinjiang, sent an urgent letter from 800 miles away with only one word: "Wait."
I looked at my haggard self in the bronze mirror and smiled.
They think that a woman's battlefield is only in the harem, and losing is a lifetime.
But they forget that my father taught me power and maneuvering, and I taught myself arithmetic and economics.
During those years in the palace, I learned nothing else but my ability to read people's hearts and play political tricks.
Later, I disguised myself as a man and assumed the pseudonym "Mr. Su". I single-handedly leveraged water transportation in the south of the Yangtze River and monopolized the world's salt tea.
When I paved the way with gold, returned my father to the center of power, and used my brother's soldiers and horses to intimidate the court, the once aloof Concubine Shu, together with her family, became the first piece on my chessboard to be eaten.
When she knelt in front of me, I told her: "Sister, this world is bigger than the harem."
