The Little Empress Is Only Sixteen (Reborn)

- Her father was the emperor's sworn elder brother and held the office of Chancellor. The emperor and empress treated her like their own daughter, and she had grown up with the crown prince. Shen Luxian had known from childhood that she was destined to become the crown princess. But when the Jie invaded, the crown prince died in battle, the emperor passed away, and the young emperor's stepmother ruled from behind the curtain. Everything that had once been secure in her life was turned upside down. Her maternal family was utterly ruined by the empress dowager's alliance with the great clans, and all her father's generation had worked for came to nothing. The court was corrupt and bleak, the land lost to the enemy. From then on, she lived in seclusion at a Taoist temple. Her only hope was to burn incense and pray that Yun Jian, the court's last undefeated general, could preserve half of the Great Ye realm. But he too was sabotaged by the aristocratic clans, captured by Jie soldiers, and reduced to ashes. After seven years at the temple, as the Jie forces closed in on the city, Shen Luxian set herself on fire and died for her principles. When she returned to the moment of the crown prince's death, she accepted the emperor's marriage proposal and entered the palace as empress. The emperor died the following month, and the Shen family helped place a young ruler on the throne. At just sixteen, Shen Luxian became empress dowager. The court was in uproar, and accusations that the Shen family had committed an incestuous, immoral act spread like wildfire. Yun Jian led his lone army deep into enemy territory and, against all odds, recaptured a border city before escorting the crown prince's coffin back to the capital. At the Changhai Gate, he drew his sword and glared at her. "A father marrying his son's wife, a sister becoming her brother's mother, relatives by marriage meddling in government, and corrupt ministers stealing the country. What a joke!" Until one day, he suddenly recalled a night when he had been gravely wounded and feverish, and a hand had reached out from beneath a Taoist robe to gently rest on his forehead. In the ninth year of Empress Dowager Shen's regency, she suppressed the meritorious nobles, dismantled the great clans, promoted men of humble origins, and put an end to the civil unrest. The great battle in the northern deserts ended in victory. The King of Wusun submitted to the south, and peace returned to the land. General Yun became a legend after a single battle. Families seeking marriage alliances flocked to his door, yet rumors spread that he was always depressed, shut himself away from guests, and drank all day. The empress dowager went to visit him in person and asked why. Yun Jian looked despondent. "I've spent half my life bleeding for this country and pushed a thousand miles north. I've earned countless military honors, yet I still can't get what I want." Shen Luxian brought him hangover soup and gently comforted him. "Whatever you want, I can give it to you." "I want someone." "Which young lady is so fortunate to have caught General Yun's eye?" Shen Luxian smiled. "I'll arrange the marriage for you." The twilight gloomed, the candlelight blurred, and the bed curtains blurred too. Yun Jian lifted his face, his eyes hazy with drunkenness. "You." My next book is The Chancellor's Runaway White Moonlight: a resilient, gentle beauty x a possessive, unhinged chancellor, with a groveling-for-love storyline. See the pinned comment for the blurb. Please add it to your want-to-read list *^_^* Theme: I earnestly thank the red leaves; may they carry me to the human world.