I am the Shen family’s sickly beauty, with four “good men” in my life:
My fiancé, Lu Xiuming: the ungrateful wretch who will one day slaughter my entire family.
Gu Beichen, the Marquis of Zhenbei: the young general who swears he’ll protect me forever.
Prince Xiao Jingxuan: the scheming prince who’s always asking me to play chess.
The Crown Prince: who says I look just like the lost love he still mourns.
None of them know that what I read in the study every night isn’t a book of feminine virtues, but military strategy and political theory.
Later:
Lu Xiuming kneels at the execution ground, begging me to spare his life.
Gu Beichen leads his army in support of my ascension to the throne.
Xiao Jingxuan presents me with the Imperial Jade Seal.
The day the Crown Prince is deposed, he weeps and asks me:
“Have you ever loved anyone at all?”
I run my hand along the armrest of the dragon throne and smile:
“I love power, and nothing else.”
