Matriarchy: My Consorts, Stop Fighting for My Favor

Female-dominated world + satisfying revenge + one heroine, multiple love interests + household intrigue + rival suitors

In the Jin Dynasty, women held power, while men were bound by the Three Obediences and Four Virtues.

Li Zhiyi, Duke of Yingguo, was born a brilliant military prodigy:

She inherited her title at fifteen, pacified the northern frontier at seventeen, and commanded half the empire’s troops at nineteen.

She was a fickle womanizer, yet held immense influence at court.

She fell for one person after another, taking them in and then casting them aside.

Her household was filled with three thousand beauties, with music and revelry every night, and something new every day.

The ruler, Su Siwan, had grown up with her. She once offered Li half the empire,

and could even smile as she “shared” her own bedmate with her.

So everyone in and outside the imperial capital knew:

Offending the empress might not get you killed, but offending Li Zhiyi would make you wish you were dead.

But even Li Zhiyi had her troubles.

Her principal husband, Xie Jia, was the legitimate son of the prestigious Xie clan, refined as jade and dignified as a god.

She found him too proper, and even in bed, he restrained every breath.

But bound by the alliance between their clans, she had to grant him every honor, if not her affection.

Xie Jia quietly watched her take in servants, dote on them, and show them favoritism.

He watched as she drank beneath the lamplight while her young male concubines competed to peel grapes for her.

He watched as, on a whim, she took the newly ennobled consort of the empress to spend the night with her.

He watched her wake the next morning, remembering only to straighten the young man’s clothes,

while forgetting that her principal husband had spent the entire night standing outside in the corridor.

Later, Xie Jia learned to wear heavy makeup, change into revealing clothes, and sing suggestive songs.

Amid the turmoil of palace intrigue, he gradually tore away his “proper” mask,

just so that when she finally looked back, he might find a place in her heart,

even for a single moment.

But how could Li Zhiyi ever know to look back?