Yao Mingyue, founding emperor of the Dan Dynasty, was born in the final years of the Qu Dynasty, an era that burned books and imposed harsh laws.
As the dynasty collapsed and rival powers fought for control of the Central Plains, Yao Mingyue raised the banner of rebellion and began her campaign in Lu County.
Her advisers and soldiers were mostly desperate outlaws and rogues. With no powerful backing to rely on, she fought the rival warlords, secured the throne, drove out the oppressors for the people, and brought peace to the realm.
At just twenty-seven, Yao Mingyue established her capital in Chang'an and named her dynasty Dan. Later histories recorded, "Nothing like this had ever been seen before."
**
Yan Zhao, a young general, received a military manual from Heaven. He raised an army from humble beginnings, reclaimed the Three Mountains, and swept aside the feudal lords. When Yao Mingyue ascended the throne, she clasped his hand and promised: "As long as the Yellow River is no wider than a belt and Mount Tai no harder than a whetstone, Dan shall have its ancestral temples, and your line shall never end. I ennoble you as the Prince of Langya."
Three years later, Yao Mingyue became pregnant. Her health had been weakened since childhood, and the birth was difficult. After giving birth to the eldest princess, she suffered a massive hemorrhage and lay dying. Fearing that the lords of another surname might rebel, she declared that the eldest princess had been chosen as heir. The court cheered, and the Prince of Langya, Yan Zhao, was urgently summoned to the palace.
As soon as Yan Zhao entered, Chancellor Lu Zhi ordered him bound and made him kneel before the late emperor.
When Yan Zhao learned that Yao Mingyue was dead, he laughed aloud, seized a knife, and killed himself before his sovereign.
That was how it was recorded in the annals of the emperors.
But when Yao Mingyue opened her eyes, for some reason she had been reborn in Lu County, the place that had given birth to her and raised her. Before her were the same old friends, peddlers of silk and flute players. They were all squatting on the ground, fighting over the dates roasting in the dying embers and yelping as they burned their mouths. Not one of them looked remotely like a future minister or general.
Yao Mingyue: "..."
"Yao Mingyue!"
A voice beside her spoke through gritted teeth. The young man gripped her shoulder and took several ragged breaths, sweat beading at his temples, as if he had just woken from a nightmare.
Yan Zhao's sharp eyes loomed close. A bead of sweat slid down his Adam's apple. His eyes were bloodshot and burning, yet he stared at her as if he wanted to bite a piece of flesh from her body.
"Yao Mingyue, what gave you the right to have Lu Zhi kill me?"
**
Yan Zhao: Why would she kill me and no one else? It means she loves me.
[A sweet, youthful romance that looks dark and twisted at first glance]
[A story of a young emperor and her general being reborn and speedrunning their conquest of the realm]
[Screen capture dated 2026.1.15] [The protagonist's name is undecided; the second male lead's name is confirmed and will be changed]
Theme: Don't say emperors have no sages among them; since ancient times, the court has consumed the lives of the young.
