Master of the Heavens

"Cool and aloof female astronomy official x younger, sweet-faced but ruthless crown prince" HE

Ancient calendars | Celestial omens and political intrigue | A battle between emperor and empress | Nation and people

Fang Xingyao, daughter of the former Grand Astrologer, is a once-in-a-generation genius in astronomy and geomancy.

She is the Celestial Maiden of the Bureau of Astronomy, personally appointed by the emperor, and the crown prince's chosen consort.

She can observe the stars, calculate the seasons, protect agriculture, and seize the mandate of Heaven.

Yet she is trapped by her identity as a Celestial Maiden, allowed only to predict fortune and misfortune, choose auspicious dates, and interpret Heaven's will.

In the eighteenth year since the new calendar was adopted, the twenty-four solar terms have already fallen four days behind their proper times.

Farm work is delayed, harvests have plunged year after year, and the people are bound to the court's erroneous calendar, with their lives hanging in the balance.

A spring drought strikes the three western prefectures, and another life falls into Fang Xingyao's hands.

She resolves to topple the current Grand Astrologer and push through calendar reform at once, but her not-yet-wedded husband outmaneuvers her.

Li Zhao is the perfect heir in the eyes of the emperor and his ministers: gentle as jade, magnanimous, benevolent, and filial.

But he does not want to remain merely the heir. He wants to take part in governing, and he wants to become emperor, though he has yet to come of age.

Fang Xingyao is his promised wife, the very embodiment of his Heaven-sanctioned calendar, yet also the divine authority he most wants to destroy.

Their betrothal is a matter of ritual, their love a shackle, and they are fated to be locked in a struggle to the death...

Reader's Guide:

1. Set in a fictional dynasty. The official system is based on the Three Dukes and Nine Ministers, with some original additions to serve the story.

2. The heroine is a gifted scholar with expertise in astronomy, mathematics, and geomancy. She has no supernatural powers. "Celestial Maiden of the Bureau of Astronomy" is an official title. Although she wields authority, she is more like a ceremonial figurehead.

3. The leads are bound by an engagement enforced by state ritual. One excels in the humanities, the other in the sciences. Both are exceptionally capable, and made for each other.

4. The story is built on the idea that Heaven and humanity resonate with one another. Celestial phenomena and astrology serve the political intrigue.

5. Ensemble cast, with a serious focus on political intrigue.

6. The Chinese lunar calendar used today is the latest version of the ancient calendar, a lunisolar calendar.

Theme: The lunar calendar is time truly alive.