A Beauty Like a Lion

Princess Yuan Qi of Changle was the apple of the Emperor's eye. She could have anything she wanted. Even love. When a prince from a fallen foreign kingdom knocked on the palace gates, she defied the opposition of the entire court and held the grandest wedding imaginable. ` He became the most trusted minister of her father, the pillar on which the empire's revival rested. She thought she had the best judgment in the world, having tamed a lone wolf and turned him into a dog. Until he took the throne, turning her from a princess into an empress, and then from an empress into a madwoman. On the day enemy cavalry breached the city, he came with a whip in hand and strangled her in the depths of the palace. ` Then came the massacre, the destruction of her family, the burning of books, and the erasure of history. The world plunged into a thousand years of darkness. Then she opened her eyes. Red candles burned bright, and the wedding night was not yet over. He held her close, his thick lashes lowered over his eyes, murmuring her name in his sleep. ` When she awoke from the nightmare, Yuan Qi discovered in despair that she was still hopelessly in love with him. When she executed her beloved with her own hands, a part of her died too. And yet, from the depths of death, life can begin anew. ` * This is not a feel-good power fantasy. The heroine was driven mad in her previous life, and she's still a little mad after starting over. * The heroine is not clever, moral, strong, or dignified. She has desires and weaknesses, and she can become dependent and compromise. She has all the limitations and flaws of someone born into privilege, and is by no means a strong female lead. * The first male lead has a bad ending. I'll decide what happens to the others when I get there. * The political scheming is amateurish, and the countries and eras are entirely fictional. Don't associate them with any unified dynasty in China's central plains. ` Blurb dated 2026.3.27 This work is published exclusively on Jinjiang Literature City and is copyright-registered. Stolen copies and plagiarized ideas will be pursued. Theme: True strength is being able to get back up by yourself after you fall.