[Female Emperor’s Tutor, Political Intrigue + Three Princes Fight for the Throne + Abolishing Old Systems and Reforming the Law] [Clear-Eyed, Ruthless Mastermind of the Court VS Cold, Restrained Minister Who Upholds the Law] The year the princes of the Great Sheng dynasty fought over the throne, Shen Zhewei, former tutor to the princes, was summoned back to the capital by imperial decree after four years in retirement.
Of the three princes she had taught, one commanded the frontier armies and could make a hundred thousand cavalry bow to his will; one controlled the imperial treasury and held the empire’s trade routes and grain supply in his grasp; and one was renowned among scholars, able to set the entire court buzzing with a single remark.
Everyone was certain Shen Zhewei had returned to the capital to choose the next emperor from among her three students.
The eldest prince placed half a military tally before her. “Choose me, Master, and I’ll make sure you want for nothing for the rest of your life.”
The second prince brought her a keepsake belonging to her late sister. “Help me ascend the throne, and I’ll clear the Shen family’s name.”
But the third prince knelt in the Golden Hall and petitioned the emperor to judge her. “An imperial tutor meddling in state affairs deserves execution under the law.”
They respected her, feared her, and relied on her, yet none could bear the thought of her siding with someone else.
But no one knew that twenty years ago, Shen Zhewei’s sister had died because of the very succession system the Great Sheng dynasty had followed for centuries.
That system gave every adult prince a claim to the throne, set military power, financial power, and the moral authority of the literati against one another, forced every prince to kill his own brothers, and made every minister choose a side before the outcome was decided.
Shen Zhewei had never intended to help anyone ascend the throne.
She meant to make sure this struggle for succession could never produce a winner again.
When the three princes finally set aside their differences and joined forces to kill her, Shen Zhewei unfurled a new legal code she had spent years preparing before all the assembled officials.
“Your Highnesses.”
“This is the final lesson I have to teach you.”
“Not how to claim the throne.”
“But how to strip the throne of its power to kill at will.”
