The Yonghe golden age came to an end, and the Han dynasty plunged into its darkest hour. Emperor Ming’s sycophantic devotion to Buddhism threw the court into chaos, while powerful clans ran rampant across the realm. After the young Emperor Shang died, members of the imperial family fought over the throne, turning against their own kin.
No one believed a woman could save the country. Only Princess Liu Ying took up the tiger tally, quelled the princes’ rebellion, and ascended the throne to rule a vast empire.
She ruled officials with an iron hand, defeated the Xianbei in the north, and invoked divine authority to be crowned the Heaven-Anointed Empress. For more than twenty years, she held the Han dynasty together through force and resolve.
But when victory was finally hers, she stood alone in the depths of the palace, gazing at her ambitious cousin. She had conquered all under heaven, yet at last understood that even she could not overcome millennia-old customs or the reckoning that awaited her…
