Qin Qingyue, a graduate student in the history department, fell in love with a man from five hundred years ago in ancient books.
He is Xiao Mochen, Emperor Xuanyuan. The history books only give him sixty-two words: "He entered an official position from a humble family... He is lonely and suspicious in nature, does not establish a queen, and does not accept concubines. This is rare in the world."
She is obsessed with the tough, wise and lonely soul between the lines.
Until a white jade chess piece took her through time.
She became the eldest lady of the general's palace, and met him when he was still a poor scholar. At that time, he was playing alone under the moonlight, with a slight frown on his face, exactly as she imagined.
"If you were the chess player," she asked softly, "would you like me to be your chess piece?"
She paved the way for him with modern knowledge of Machiavellian tactics:
- Using economics to solve the water transportation dilemma
- Use psychology to divide clan alliances
- Using historical predictions to help him avoid three life-and-death disasters
- He even did not hesitate to let the Qin family lose their military power and eliminate the emperor's fear
He rose through the ranks step by step: censor Zhongcheng, regent, and finally the yellow robe.
She retreated step by step: counselor, confidant, and finally a hidden danger.
What is not written in the history books is that there is always a mess in his study, waiting for her to make a move;
What the unofficial historian didn't tell her was that there was an iron ring he gave her hidden under her pillow, which was rubbed until it shined;
No one even knew that when she took poison on the eve of her coronation ceremony, the last tear in her suicide note blurred out the word "live up".
"Water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it."
The eight-character motto she carved on the chess piece was finally put into practice with her life - using herself as water to carry her country; using herself as water to overturn her own obsessions.
And he didn't understand until she was buried in the coffin:
That sentence "Sex is lonely and doubtful" is doubtful to everyone in the world, but she is the only one who should believe it;
The phrase "not to establish a queen" does not mean that a queen cannot be established, but that the position of queen always belongs to only one person.
Five hundred years later, archaeologists opened Zhaoling.
A double coffin, a pair of white jade chess pieces, and two lines of newly read small words on the bamboo slips:
"In this life, I can betray everyone in the world, but I cannot betray her."
"If there is an afterlife, it will not be as an emperor, but as her chess player."
[Reading Tips]
1. It's not a cool novel. The heroine manages every step but can't help herself at every step.
2. The emotional line is profound and complicated, from love and suspicion to life and death.
3. The plot line is based on real historical logic, with seven parts real and three parts fictitious.
4. The ending is good but with a lingering aftertaste. The focus is on the process rather than the result.
Core highlights:
- When historical researchers become historical participants
- The ultimate pull of reason and emotion
- The sense of fate of "I know the ending of history, but I still go to you"
-The love and pain that are not recorded in history books
"Some histories are written from the beginning.
Just like water, running for thousands of miles, it will eventually end.
And our story, at the moment when the history books are closed——
It's just the beginning. "
Intention: The core intention is to write about the deep affection and responsibility of doing something even though you know it is impossible to do in the historical ending of a known tragedy.