The Outcast

Over 800 people have bookmarked this

Blurb

Xu Xiujun, the posthumous son of the Marquis of Zhenbei, was the subject of a prophecy made by the Imperial Preceptor before his birth:

If the child is a boy, he will rise to the highest office, second only to The Outcast, and his talent and strategy will keep the Great Yue prosperous for generations.

If the child is a girl, she will become a disastrous beauty, a demon consort who brings down the nation, and a harbinger of chaos. She must not be allowed to live!

Fortunately, Xu Xiujun was born a boy.

The old emperor was delighted. He issued an order summoning the widowed mother and her orphaned child back to the capital.

He granted Xu Xiujun a place in the imperial academy and arranged his marriage to his favorite daughter, Princess Xuantou.

But the good times did not last. The old emperor died, and the new emperor took the throne.

The ambitious Grand Princess Xuantou coveted her young brother's throne.

The Great Yue court was suddenly thrown into turmoil, with factions battling one another.

The ambitious Grand Princess came to see Xu Xiujun. "Let's work together. You'll still be the powerful minister second only to The Outcast!"

Xu Xiujun smiled faintly. "What if I want to be the one above them all?"

Grand Princess: "Then I'll kill you first!"

*

From birth, Xu Xiujun had no choice but to disguise herself as a boy to stay alive.

But the court eventually descended into factional strife all the same.

The one who, according to the prophecy, could secure Great Yue's prosperity as a "man" became a pawn coveted by every side.

When the Grand Princess, famed for her dazzling beauty and cruel heart, came to her with ambition in her eyes,

Xu Xiujun could think only: What would it take for her to marry me? Should I help her claim the throne?

*

Everyone knew that Grand Princess Xuantou had killed her father and brother, seized her younger brother's throne, and placed her birth mother under house arrest. She was utterly heartless.

Everyone avoided her like the plague.

And yet Xu Xiujun, the one said to be capable of keeping Great Yue prosperous for generations, loved her with unwavering devotion until death.

*

Grand Princess Suyue had thought Xu Xiujun's words meant she coveted her throne.

Later, Xu Xiujun helped her ascend the throne, pacify the realm, and bring order and integrity to the government.

Only then did Suyue understand: the throne had never been what Xu Xiujun coveted. It was Suyue herself...

*

Xuantou: another name for the moon.

*Cover art: Yinian [Golden Wind and Gentle Rain]

Reader's guide and content warnings:

1. This is a (fake) political intrigue novel about a princess devoted to claiming the throne and a consort devoted to the princess. The plot comes first.

2. The princess is no saint. She will kill for power, and does so without batting an eye.

3. More to come if I think of anything.

Theme: What determines one's fate is never one's gender.