The Mad Empress Tears the World Apart

The day Lan Jin died, the whole capital celebrated.

Three months later, she crawled back from the mass grave and smiled at her enemies:

“Get in line. You’ll die one at a time.”

Once, she was the most celebrated courtesan in Jiangnan, passed around like a gift.

Now, she’s the Great Yong dynasty’s number-one psychopath, a professional at sending people to their deaths.

An official calls her a demoness?

She flings out a ledger of embezzled funds. “Brains are an everyday necessity. Why are you treating yours like a decoration?”

A noblewoman mocks her low birth?

She smiles back. “You two make a lovely couple. Looks like the Matchmaker’s done a thorough job sorting the trash.”

The emperor wants to make her empress?

She tosses aside the phoenix crown. “Your Majesty, your dragon throne is pressing against my knife.”

Later, in the Golden Hall, she steps over a floor strewn with “loyal bones” and takes her seat upon the phoenix throne.

The new emperor massages her shoulders. “Your Majesty, who do you want to tear apart today?”

She raises her eyes lazily. “Let’s tear apart the whole world for fun.”

Other people, reborn: gentle and kind, repaying evil with virtue.

Lan Jin, reborn: Repay evil with virtue? Why should I? Am I short on good karma?

Her principles in life:

1. If you can blame someone else, never blame yourself.

2. If you can’t solve the problem, solve the person who caused it.

3. Manners unknown; meet strength with strength.