The Phoenix Flies North

She was once a girl in Pei County who read Zhuangzi. A prophecy declaring her destined for “the height of wealth and honor” turned her into a bargaining chip her father offered to the imperial court.

From a secondary consort in the Eastern Palace to the empress of Great Yan, Lü Qingyi helped her husband ascend the throne, only to endure torment in the Cold Palace and the emperor’s constant tests. She neither fought nor complained, because she had never loved him. When a treacherous minister’s scheme forced her onto the battlefield, she donned armor and took up a blade, seeking only a clean ending.

The day Yanmen Pass fell, a hand reaching out to her from the rubble seized her destiny. Tuoba Yan, king of the Beidi, said, “I saw you ten years ago at a bookshop in Pei County. I didn’t dare approach you then. Now I don’t want to miss my chance again.”

This time, there were no tests and no schemes. He gave her the grasslands, the starry sky, the freedom to leave her past behind, and the honest devotion of a man who would love only one woman for his whole life. At last, she learned how to be loved, but she still had to face his old wounds and the time they were destined to have together.

The emperor of Great Yan regretted everything too late. The old friend from Pei County never married. And she remained the girl who once held Zhuangzi in her hands: everyone she loved was just passing through, and freedom was something she had to give herself.

From empress to war goddess, from discarded wife to regent’s queen, she spent this lifetime becoming her own place of refuge.