[Strong Female Lead | Empress | Female Ensemble Cast | Nation and People]
Li Yuanxi, the founding empress of the Great Jin dynasty, had a crown prince.
More than ten years ago, the crown prince, Cui Min, brought poisoned wine.
The former crown prince, Li Zhizhen, drank it and died suddenly in the Eastern Palace. His two young daughters were also poisoned in secret. The elder, Li Xiaoning, survived but never recovered fully. The younger, Li Jiyuan, was sent away from Chang’an in the dead of night.
Ten years later, Li Xiaoning, now two years into her reign as the new emperor, summons her younger sister back to the capital.
Fourteen-year-old Li Jiyuan descends the mountain through the snow and returns to Chang’an.
Everyone assumes that this imperial orphan, raised in the countryside, has come back to be a pawn for others to manipulate.
A collateral branch of the Cui family wants to use her to regain power. Court officials want to make her a shield in the struggle over the succession. Even the Censorate wants to impeach her for “immoral conduct.”
When the former Cui residence is reduced to ashes on a snowy night, when the palace consort of Xuanwei Hall has both hands cut off and is thrown into the imperial prison, when the winter solstice altar collapses amid thunder and lightning,
she emerges from the rubble, covered in blood, carrying a child, and walks step by step toward her elder sister on the imperial throne.
Not a single official in the court dares to stop her.
“Elder Sister, will you name me heir?”
The emperor smiles faintly. “Yes. A Yuan, what do you think?”
The court erupts. The great families are enraged, and the old faction strikes back.
But they have forgotten: the blood of the late emperor and the former crown prince flows through her veins, and in her hands is a sword honed by ten years of snow and hardship.
Ten years in hiding, then one day back in the capital.
From princess to heir apparent to ruler of the realm.
She walks the path to the throne, a road fit for an emperor.
This book is very good so far. The author does not use long paragraphs to set up the characters. However, the decisive and intelligent character of the protagonist is very well reflected in the handling of the paternal bloodline and the details of the language. The protagonist's sister is a gentle but majestic emperor. There are cases that are currently decrypted and the author's writing is profound.
Nice! I really like the heroine and her sister. The heroine doesn't say many cruel things but kills decisively 😘
This novel should be called Me and My Harem, right?