Female Lead's Story:
The daughter of a disgraced minister, an orphan raised among commoners, a princess of the prince's mansion, the founding empress, the empress dowager of a new dynasty...
The history books describe her as “virtuous, prudent, and wise, with meritorious service in support of the throne.”
It turns out that her long life amounts to no more than a few brief lines in the history books.
Holding her tiny granddaughter, as lovely as carved jade and piled snow, she could never have imagined that this little infant would become the empress of the next dynasty to end an age of chaos.
As she reminisces with old friends, she looks around and sees those she once knew pass away one by one, like leaves falling in the wind.
Only she is still standing here.
She watches the realm change hands and a new dynasty rise, then sees turmoil return and old affairs fade into dust, as generation after generation retraces the path she once walked.
Male Lead's Story:
When Liu Hao woke up one day, he discovered he had transmigrated.
System: “You transmigrated into the body of an emperor surnamed Liu, but you are not emperor yet.”
Liu Hao's eyes lit up. “Liu Bang? Liu Che? Liu Bingyi?” Those were the only Han emperors he could remember.
System: “He is a founding emperor, and the dynasty is also called Han, but he is not Liu Bang.”
Liu Hao immediately cheered. “Haha, I know this one! Is it Liu Xiu, the Son of the Plane who had a meteor land right on his head, or Liu Bei, who conquered the realm with the Five Tiger Generals and Zhuge Liang? I'm here to fight for the throne!”
The System fell silent for a moment. “...It's Liu Zhiyuan.”
The smile froze on Liu Hao's face. “...Who is that?”
He transmigrates into a body on the verge of death. His lord has abandoned him, his subordinates are ready to flee, and his wife wants a divorce. A truly disastrous start.
Later, he defies fate, gathers fierce generals, commands mighty armies, and conquers the Central Plains.
He settles accounts with his enemies one by one and takes the realm step by step.
Until he meets her again, the wife who abandoned him back then.
He should hate her. He should look on coldly from the sidelines.
But then: Oh no, how did I fall in love with her again?
A Few Notes:
1. The female lead is the main protagonist. She doesn't stew in self-doubt, always gets even, and has a powerful sense of agency.
2. I really like the premise behind the male lead's blurb, but he won't appear until later in the story.
3. Both leads have no prior sexual partners.
4. The story generally follows the course of history, from the fall of the Tang, through the founding of Later Liang and the succession of the Five Dynasties, to the establishment of the Song. The specific events are entirely fictionalized.
Premise: A history of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms told through the female lead's perspective
Although the author's wife intentionally blurred her age, it's too weird for Lao Li to fall in love with the protagonist Sanniang. It's also very strange for the protagonist to fall in love with her. Before this description, I always thought it was to show closeness and envy for the power he had, and blurred jealousy and thought it was love. I didn't expect that I was really tempted (the protagonist said a lot that he dared not to love her, but it's weird to think that Lao Li loves himself)