Princess Kun Yi (Reborn)

"If he dares take another woman, I'll divorce him!" But in history, no empress has ever divorced her husband. The empress's first-rank lady-in-waiting was sent to her when she was twelve, by His Majesty, who was still a crown prince at the time. He said he'd found her someone capable. Capable she certainly was. The empress kept her in service all these years, right up until the lady-in-waiting bore a royal heir. Only then did she learn the woman's original name was Zhang Jinyu, the daughter of a disgraced minister whose family had been destroyed during the reign of her maternal grandfather, Emperor Yuanhe. The woman knelt and bowed her head. "Your Majesty, this servant asks for nothing. I knew His Majesty when we were young. I only wish to serve by His Majesty's side and repay him for his kindness in not abandoning me." Not abandoning her. The empress, whose temper had always been poor, turned those words over in her mind, yet remained calm. The empress is reborn at sixteen. At this point, she is still the Junyi Princess, favored by the emperor and fond of reading romance novels. By the logic of those stories, Zhang Jinyu, the wronged daughter of a disgraced family who endured in silence as a servant, seems like exactly the kind of heroine readers would love. And she, the high-born, haughty, jealous princess, seems just like the villain who keeps getting in the heroine's way. In this new life, she'll endure with grace and win everyone's affection... She'll keep herself in check and build a good reputation... What a joke. She'd never do that! What's the point of being reborn if she turns into the person she hates most? "Crown Prince, I want to marry the top-ranked scholar, Lu Chen'an. You have to stand up for me!" The gentle smile on the crown prince's face froze at once. His long lashes hid his lowered eyes. He raised his gaze and said slowly, "You can't." The princess kept smiling. "I can." I'm the most honored princess in Great Yin. Of course I can. ***************** Upcoming Novel: "Pearl Beneath the Moon (Rebirth)" ************** Mu Yuexia is a princess of the Jun rank, titled Mingzhu, and the only surviving direct descendant of Emperor Renzong. She has always been willful, self-assured, and used to having her own way, yet her marriage is the one thing she cannot choose for herself. She and Song Jin are two people worlds apart. One is dazzling and outspoken, born to imperial wealth. The other is reserved and modest, born into poverty. At their first meeting, one stands head and shoulders above even the noble young ladies of the capital, surrounded by attendants, while the other leads a gray mule, carrying cold rations on his back as he enters the prosperous capital, walking with his eyes lowered among the sons of the wealthy. If Yuexia doesn't want a marriage, then she doesn't want it. She and the crown prince grew up together and were deeply in love. Even if it meant defying her father's command and going against the empress dowager, she would divorce him. Though she was marrying for the second time, she still ascended the throne as empress and became the mother of the nation. Yuexia should have been satisfied. Until she set the bed curtains alight with her own hands, setting Kunning Palace ablaze. In the flames, she watched the imperial noble consort, pregnant and in control of everything, stare back in disbelief. She watched the emperor, famed for his extraordinary bearing and still handsome, twist his face into a snarl as he stumbled and shouted. In the raging fire, Yuexia laughed with the same bold abandon as ever. At twenty-two, the empress threw herself into the fire and met her death without hesitation, defending Renzong's legitimate line with her own life. No one knew that in her final moments, Yuexia was still smiling, though her heart was heavy. Her greatest regret in life was not that the man she had once loved had forced her to burn herself alive to win their struggle over the great ceremony. It was this Song Jin, I have wronged you all my life. * If there is another life As she fell in the fire, Yuexia thought vaguely: In this life, you took the blame for me first, then joined the empress's faction and challenged imperial authority. You were a first minister of the highest rank, a pillar of the state, a talented man who quelled rebellions and led reforms, a renowned official who helped revive the empire. Yet you knelt in the Ancestral Hall until both your legs were ruined, and endured the humiliation of having people spit in your face... If there is another life, I... I will uphold your resolve and stand with you against those in power. Would that be all right? , Scene: Yuexia and Song Jin's last meeting before her rebirth, at the royal hunting grounds in autumn. The empress stands high above, dazzling and imposing. The minister, rejected by His Majesty, has blood at the corner of his mouth. "I'm sorry." The empress's voice is low. The man opposite her gives a soft laugh. "What for?" He raises a hand to wipe the blood from his lips. "For His Majesty? A ruler's kindness and wrath are both gifts from the sovereign. This subject would not dare." ", For the divorce?" The always-proud empress flinches. Song Jin smiles. In nine years of knowing her and half a year of marriage, this is the first time he has called her by name: "Mu Yuexia, you are selfish, vain, frivolous, and spoiled. You were never a good match for me." "You have done nothing to wrong me." Theme: Women must be strong to have the right to choose