The Phoenix Terrace

The Taichu Emperor, the emperor's third daughter, was born in the seventh year of Jinghe. Her given name was Wan. She was first bestowed the title Princess Yongjia. In the seventeenth year of Jinghe, she was granted the title Prince Ying and renamed Yan. That same year, she was installed as Crown Prince, becoming the first female Crown Prince of Danning.

In the twenty-fourth year of Jinghe, the emperor died. Before the spirit tablets, Shen Su, Junior Preceptor to the Crown Prince, read the imperial edict: the emperor's third daughter, Crown Prince Qin Yan, was to succeed him. The reign era was changed to Taichu.

Taichu means the beginning of all things. In the Taichu Emperor's third year on the throne, the weather was favorable, the country prosperous, and the people at peace. Yet although the emperor had reached adulthood, the central palace remained empty. The court officials submitted memorial after memorial, urging His Majesty to choose a husband to take charge of the central palace, continue the imperial line, and provide heirs.

The Taichu Emperor said nothing. Instead, she selected craftsmen to build a pavilion in the southeastern part of the palace and named it Luantai. The next day, a covered sedan chair carried a veiled man into the palace.

The emperor visited Luantai every night. Red candles flickered until the hour of the rabbit, when she finally left.

No one knew who lived in Luantai. The palace records were filled in line by line, yet the emperor kept her beloved hidden away in a golden house, never granting him a title.

That is, until the day a palace maid glimpsed through a narrow crack in the vermilion gate the former Vice Minister of War, locked within the palace walls: Shen Su, once the Taichu Emperor's Junior Preceptor, who had vanished while being sent away to serve in the provinces.

-

Shen Su, courtesy name Lianzhi, had once been study companion to Crown Prince Minxian. After the Crown Prince died, Shen Su entered the Taihe Hall and was appointed tutor to Crown Prince Qin Yan, serving until she ascended the throne. Later, when the emperor took up the reins of government, Shen Su became Vice Minister of War. Everything he did in this life was to repay Crown Prince Minxian for recognizing his talent all those years ago.

He watched her grow from the young Princess Yongjia, Qin Wan, step by step into the imperial seat, becoming Qin Yan, the first empress of the Danning Dynasty. Just as he had promised, he stood before the court and cleared the road ahead for her, so she could sit securely in the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

Once the realm was secure and the state at peace, he watched the emperor, desire surging in her eyes, kneel amid the wreckage and the memorials urging her to fill her harem. He bowed and said, "In my humble opinion, Your Majesty should choose a worthy husband to take charge of the central palace."

"Is that so?" Qin Yan stood before the dragon throne, looking down at him with a cold laugh. "I grant your request."

Shen Su bowed again. "May Your Majesty enjoy health and peace year after year, with a house full of descendants."

A few days later, an imperial decree was issued, granting Shen Su's request to serve in the provinces and assigning him to Bailu Prefecture, the former fief of Prince Ying.

As Shen Su followed the decree and traveled toward his post, he heard news from Yanjing: in accordance with the late emperor's edict, the Taichu Emperor had chosen Xu Si, second son of the Xu family, and would marry him on an auspicious day.

An imperial wedding was cause for a general amnesty. The common people eagerly discussed it, looking forward to the peace and prosperity it promised for the realm.

It should have been just so, Shen Su thought. But that night, a troop of cavalry from the capital surrounded the post station. The emperor, who should have been celebrating her wedding in the palace, stood amid the swaying firelight and smiled at him. "Teacher, it has been a long time."

"Your Majesty." Shen Su's brow twitched. He instinctively scolded her. "Your Majesty is behaving far too recklessly."

"Junior Preceptor."

"Your Majesty, please mind your words." Shen Su stepped back and bowed his head with a sigh. "I am no longer your Junior Preceptor, nor am I a vice minister. My present station is no different from that of a commoner. I beg Your Majesty to allow me to live by the plow and pursue the Way."

"Very well." The young emperor did not force him. She moved her fingertips and ordered the hidden guard beside her in a low voice, "Someone, take my favorite minister back."

"I'll decide your title when I return." Her gaze turned colder by the moment. "Since you refuse to be my Junior Tutor, then stay in the harem and warm my bed."

"Junior Preceptor, you taught me that."

[Reading Guide]

Stubborn emperor x upright Junior Tutor, domineering emperor's forceful love

The heroine is the third child and could become Crown Prince because her two elder brothers died for different reasons.

Taking by force (the powerful heroine takes the man by force) | teacher and student | older man and younger woman (eight-year age gap) | 1v1 | both sexually inexperienced

Teacher and student first, then sovereign and subject. The dynasty is fictional, and the clothing and some official positions are modeled after the Ming Dynasty. Please don't take the historical details too seriously.

All romantic developments take place after the heroine turns eighteen. She never disguises herself as a man, and the entire court supports the empress.

The male lead is pure in both body and heart. The heroine has a fiance.

No real-life inspirations!! Absolutely no real-life inspirations!!!!

Theme: It is only right for a woman to rule as emperor!