In the End, She Became Emperor

Updates are irregular for now, so feel free to bookmark and let chapters build up. New chapters go up at 8 p.m. I'm a chronic reviser, and I'll note it if I make major changes. Comments are open; just bookmark the story to join in.

Blurb 1: In her previous life, Bai Luan lived in a daze and died in a daze. Given a chance to return to age sixteen overnight, she resolves to go to Yangzhou and seek out the famed Princess Royal who saved the Great Zhao when it was on the brink of collapse. She has just two goals.

First, she wants to know why her mother died.

Second, she wants the Great Zhao's new emperor to be a woman.

Under the Princess Royal's guidance, Bai Luan punishes corrupt officials, puts down rebellions, establishes schools for women, recommends women for official posts, and makes friends far and wide. She even comes this close to putting the "prince," who has dressed as a boy since childhood, on the imperial throne.

But overnight, she loses it all again.

Beneath his twelve-strand crown, the male emperor tells her lightly that this is the Mandate of Heaven.

The Mandate of Heaven?

Then she'll defy it.

From that day on, Bai Luan sets out on the irreversible road to becoming emperor.

Blurb 2: Bai Luan has lived two lives and spent thirty-eight years as a soul, wandering every inch of the Great Zhao.

She has seen a baby girl raising her tiny hands to beg for help inside a five-story tower, surrounded by mountains of bones and cries that shake the heavens. She has seen talented women in the inner chambers, unable to put their gifts to use, wasting away in despair. She has seen farm women in the wilderness, toiling away on bound feet and crawling on their knees.

At first, Bai Luan was horrified. Then she suffered. In the end, all she felt was fury.

She hated the injustice of heaven and earth.

The world is vast and endless. Surely there must be some place where women can find a way to live?

You say there isn't?

Fine. Then she'll fight heaven and earth to the bitter end.

Blurb 3: Given a second life, Bai Luan has three choices before her:

a. Travel the Great Zhao, make new friends, and hike through mountains and rivers.

b. Go to war, secure the borders, and win everlasting glory.

c. Become emperor, save women, and forge a new world.

Wait a minute. Why can't she have it all?

Reader's guide:

A heroine who grows over time, with an ensemble cast and an all-female main group.

An alternate-history story set against the backdrop of the late and middle Tang, with historical references for its political intrigue and military elements.

Theme: Break the old shackles of the age and open a new chapter in life.