[Chu-Han Contention] The Wicked Phoenix Is Reborn to Claim the Realm

The Empress Dowager Lu, the poison empress of a thousand years, is dead. The world remembers only her ruthlessness, yet no one remembers that in her early years, when she married Liu Bang, she was once gentle and virtuous.

She served her parents-in-law, raised their two children, and helped Liu Bang ascend the throne. She went from a wealthy young lady to a country woman, then spent three years imprisoned in the Chu camp. In return, she was cast aside and confined to the cold palace, while the crown prince’s life hung by a thread. After Liu Bang died, she devoted herself to securing the Han dynasty’s prosperity, earning herself a reputation as a villain for all ages in the process. Both her children died before her.

When gentleness is betrayed and kindness trampled, what fault is it of hers, as a woman, if she must forge her own armor to fight her way through a game of power that belongs only to men?

If only she could have another life...

In this life, she is reborn on the day before her wedding.

She runs away from the marriage.

1. The Woman in the Water

A woman slowly rises from the water. It streams down her graceful, curvaceous body. She is completely naked, her skin as white as snow, her figure lithe and tall.

Xiang Yu: “Everyone, turn around! No peeking!”

The soldiers turn around in unison.

Xiang Yu: “Miss in the river, forgive my intrusion. May I ask who owns the Black Steed on the bank?”

The corner of Lu Zhi’s lips lifts in a barely perceptible smile. The only way to catch Xiang Yu’s attention is with this treasured horse.

“General, that horse... belongs to me.”

2. The Bearing of a Dragon and Phoenix

At the banquet, cups clink and wine flows. Shaoping leans close to Xiang Yu’s ear:

“Young General, that Miss Lu we saw earlier has an extraordinary destiny written between her brows. She has the bearing of a dragon and phoenix.”

Liu Bang: “You, Xiang Yu, you brat! I, Liu Bang, came to you in good faith to join forces against the Qin! And yet you’re hounding me to my death over a woman. Aren’t you afraid all the heroes under heaven will laugh at you?”

Zhang Liang: “Lord of Pei, that is no ordinary woman. Could it be that Xiang Yu also knows Lu Zhi is destined to be an empress?”

Fan Kuai: “Bah! Xiang Yu is just a fool who’s lost his head over a woman. He’ll never amount to anything! Big brother, why should we put up with this humiliation?”

Zhang Liang: “Even if Xiang Yu lets Lu Zhi have her way, I can still sow discord between them.”

3. A Flower in Two Colors (Both Reborn)

When Yu Ji wakes, she can still feel the pain of the blade slicing her neck. But what she hears is the news that Xiang Yu and Lu Zhi are getting married.

In this life, everything has been turned upside down: Lu Zhi has become Xiang Yu’s wife.

That day, the earth-shaking cries of battle swept over Pengcheng like a tidal wave.

She knows he has come.

Yu Ji faces the bronze mirror and presses the tip of her gold hairpin to her chest, then drives it in hard.

In this life, she doesn’t dare gamble on whether he will love her as he did in her previous life.

She can only wager... wager that he will feel for this flower stained with blood on his behalf.

Lu Zhi never expected that even after being reborn, she would still be unable to avoid Yu Ji: the woman skilled in music, whose dance is as breathtaking as a startled swan, and who carries a strange fragrance.

So, from the day she entered the Xiang household, she began a secret imitation. Yu Ji’s musical pieces, her Chu dances, even her distinctive scent: Lu Zhi sought out mystics everywhere to concoct a similar fragrance.

She carved another woman’s elegance into her own bones and blood, stroke by stroke. Not to become her, but so that when the inevitable moment came, she could stand before Xiang Yu without being outdone in the least.

4. Pursuing Han Xin Beneath the Moon

Lu Zhi: “General, are you leaving?”

Han Xin: “The Conqueror will have none of me. I have no choice but to go.”

Lu Zhi: “Where will you go? To join the Han?”

Han Xin falls silent.

Lu Zhi: “Han Xin, stay. Not for Xiang Yu, but for me.”

Han Xin: “Does Your Ladyship know that if I help the King of Han conquer the realm, he has promised to give you to me?”

Lu Zhi: “Liu Bang... He’s as shameless as ever!”

Before she can finish speaking, the Tai’e Sword is out of its scabbard, its blade gleaming coldly in the firelight.

“Han Xin, do you truly think I wouldn’t dare kill you?”

Han Xin: “To die by Your Ladyship’s sword would be enough for Han Xin in this life!”

With a clear clatter, the long sword falls to the ground.

Lu Zhi: “Then let me offer you another condition. Would this one be more to your liking, General?” She pauses. “If I give you my body tonight, will you stay?”

Theme: The realm does not belong to men alone. Women, too, can rule it