[Strong female lead + no romance + political intrigue + satisfying read]
The emperor has vanished, his younger brother is still a child, and ravenous wolves circle the court from within and without.
To secure the dynasty, Princess Li Linxiao personally helps her younger brother ascend the throne, then stays by his side to assist him.
Everyone thinks she is just a pretty ornament. Little do they know that she turns around, seizes military power, smashes the aristocratic clans’ rice bowls, and tears the rotten court apart!
They want her to marry? Then she will change the law, and from now on, women will be free to choose whether and whom to marry.
They say women have no place in politics? Then she will reform the imperial examinations, letting women enter officialdom and take men’s jobs right from under them.
One new policy after another shakes the entire realm to its foundations.
The court officials are so furious their faces turn red, and they accuse her of undermining the dynasty.
She ignores them all and does only what she wants.
When peace and prosperity finally arrive and foreign nations come to pay tribute, Li Linxiao is just about to hand the court over to her younger brother and go enjoy the scenery, when all the officials kneel and beg her:
“Princess, please continue to govern! Or you could simply ascend the throne yourself!”
