Jiang Zhao was married to Gu Changgen for ten years. She spent her generous dowry paving his way to success and waited alone for his triumphant return.
But when he came home victorious from the battlefield, he brought along a beautiful mistress.
Jealous and vicious, the mistress joined forces with the cold-hearted general to frame Jiang Zhao for adultery. They imprisoned her in the manor and poisoned her to death.
As she lay dying, she swore that if she ever got another life, she would make the treacherous pair pay.
When she opened her eyes again, it was the very day the general returned to the capital in triumph with his mistress.
Suppressing her boundless hatred, she took stock of the entire household’s wealth and transferred every last bit of it away.
She sold off her husband and secured a divorce. Then Jiang Zhao entered the palace and eventually rose to the empress’s throne, becoming the mother of the realm.
The general who once discarded her like trash lost his military command and power. For years, he knelt outside the imperial city, begging her in vain.
Jiang Zhao gazed into the distance from the railing, not a trace of affection left in her eyes. “You once treated me like dirt. Now I sit at the heart of the palace, and we are worlds apart.”
