Blurb
At court, the empress Bai Lan sits calmly on her throne. Though she took the throne as a young girl, she has never once lost her composure.
Who could have guessed that when she was still a commandery princess, the regent who held the reins of government would have her waist in his hand in his study, saying, "I have worked myself to the bone for Da Sheng all these years. Asking for a commandery princess in return is hardly unreasonable." ... "A Lan is the girl I raised with my own hands. Call me Master, hmm?" ... "Be a good girl, sweetheart. Don't make me lock a beauty away in Tong Palace."
I spent two years personally honing a piece of fine jade. Every inch of it suits my taste perfectly.
Sui Zhou, the military governor and leader of the revolutionaries abroad, closes in on her step by step, saying, "Of course I know. Bai Bai was the one I sent to seduce me, after all. What, didn't Bai Bai know?"
The finest hunters always appear as prey. That saying applies to men, too.
A boy with dimples whenever he smiles sits beneath a peach tree, grinning at her. "Sister, he deserves to die for trying to take liberties with you. Of course, I deserve to die too. What are you going to do, my dearest sister?"
If the moon that belongs to me stops shining on me alone, then I'll just pluck you down with my own hands and keep you in my palm to toy with.
Bai Lan: So what if I'm scheming? Who says a scheming girl can't be sincere with all her heart? I once crossed mountains and seas for the sake of a promise, and I once let myself become disheveled to protect the people of a region. Later, I gave up the throne and returned the vast realm to its people, hoping only that the Republican Party would lead them toward happiness. Am I, the commandery princess, not more lovable than a hypocrite?
Please add this to your reading list! This is a pick-your-favorite romance. I want to write a logical Mary Sue story. Roughly: a scheming yet utterly sincere, beautiful empress x a freewheeling regent who teaches the princess how to deal with him x a refined scoundrel warlord who brings in the princess to seduce him x a green tea younger brother who ignores everyone but his sister and might be the big bad.
Theme: Scheming is not a derogatory term.
