In her previous life, the entire Marquis of Zhenbei's household was executed. Xiao Shuyi and every member of the Xiao family lost their heads, slaughtered by a treacherous minister.
When she opened her eyes again, she was back on the eve of her family's destruction.
This time, she wouldn't wait to die. She burned her poetry drafts, ruined her peerless beauty, sewed the remnants of The Seven Books of Military Strategy into her clothes, and fled overnight to an enemy state with her maid. From the legitimate daughter of a marquis to a disfigured merchant, from a condemned criminal of the Zhou Dynasty to the empress of Great Yan, she carved out her path with blood and strategy.
Crown Prince Murong Ce of Great Yan was ordered to search for the military treatise. Using the alias "Master Xie," he lay low in the border markets, where he unexpectedly met a disfigured female merchant. Her every move left a way out, and her methods echoed the art of war.
He tested her, drew close to her, schemed against her, and in the end, lost his own heart.
When pursuers drove her to the edge of a cliff, he rushed forward to take an arrow for her. When her identity was exposed, he declared before the entire realm, "I would give up my place as crown prince in exchange for her safety."
The military treatise came to light, shaking the realm. The Xiao army raised the banner of "purging the emperor's corrupt ministers." Descendants of the former dynasty supported the rightful ruler in the name of their bloodline, the imperial guards switched sides, and the corrupt emperor abdicated. Standing atop the imperial city, Xiao Shuyi personally slew her enemies and avenged every member of the Xiao family.
Once the dust had settled, Murong Ce came to her with a yellowed marriage contract in his hands. "Years ago, the Marquis of Zhenbei and my father betrothed us before we were born... How about I offer you this realm as a bride price, in exchange for laying down your armor and coming home?"
