Scheming to Steal Her for the State

The Yan Kingdom fell, and Yan Mingwan was saved by her childhood friend, Song Qingshi, before ending up in the imperial palace of the Song Kingdom.

But there, she overheard the Song royal family arguing over her.

The powerful Liang Kingdom wanted to take a Yan woman. If the Song Kingdom did not hand her over, it would suffer the same fate as Yan.

Song Qingshi would rather die than submit. After being whipped more than twenty times, he was left on the brink of death. Unable to bear seeing her childhood friend suffer, Yan Mingwan volunteered to go to Liang.

Rumor had it that Liang's ruler, Qi Yan, was a foolish, depraved tyrant who drowned himself in wine and women and slaughtered people without mercy.

When Yan Mingwan met him, he was exactly as the rumors described.

In the great hall, the man stood in disarray, reeking of liquor. When he heard there was a beauty from Yan, he staggered over to Yan Mingwan.

Two pale fingers lifted her chin, and before him appeared a face so beautiful it could ensnare the soul.

“A nation-destroying temptress.”

That was Qi Yan's verdict on Yan Mingwan. Her reply was a cold dagger.

Yan Mingwan had prepared for a long time. She wanted to avenge her father and brothers by killing this foolish ruler of Liang.

But Qi Yan did not die, nor did he have her executed.

Even wounded, he gripped her wrist with tremendous force. “If you have such skill, why not save it for helping me destroy Song?”

Imprisoned in the harem of Liang's court, Yan Mingwan finally understood.

She had lost her chance to kill the tyrant with a single strike. If she wanted revenge and to save Song, she had only one path left: to climb to the very peak of Liang's power.

So she used every art of seduction to win Qi Yan's favor, determined to become the infamous demon empress known throughout the land.

*

Qi Yan believed that because they shared a bed and lived in perfect harmony, she must have fallen in love with him.

Until he discovered that all her flattery and cooperation were meant to save that so-called childhood friend of hers, Song Qingshi.

When the Liang army invaded Song, Qi Yan ordered Song Qingshi bound and thrown into a flooded dungeon.

Gripping Yan Mingwan's chin, he forced her to look at her childhood friend, filthy with mud and utterly disheveled. “Look carefully. Who is truly the enemy who killed your father?”

[Synopsis archived 2023.7.16]

Theme: “My fate is mine to decide, not Heaven's.”