Blurb
Bound in chains and all alone, she entered the imperial capital.
A general who could embroider, she became famous throughout the realm overnight.
Two years later, she was ordered to guard the southwest,
and took the opportunity to elope with the future empress.
When she returned to the capital, she simply
helped the realm get a new emperor.
Emperor: What did I ever do to you?
[A ruthless, foul-mouthed young general x a gentle, scheming future empress]
The career plot:
When Tao Yao was nine, her parents and brothers all died. While wandering, she met Madam Qiao.
Madam Qiao wept uncontrollably. "My child is ill. How can she enlist?"
Thinking of the army rations her father had once brought home, Tao Yao smacked her lips. "I'll go."
After four years in the army, she finally secured a tent of her own and no longer had to smell everyone's stinking feet. Then her superior rebelled.
She looked at the tens of thousands of torches beneath the city walls and clapped her hands. "Let's all defend it together."
Chen Quan arrived with reinforcements. "This child will surely become a great talent!"
The medical officer cupped his hands. "General, she's a woman!"
Chen Quan stroked his beard. "She might not become a great talent, then."
The emperor: "Your death sentence is commuted, but you won't escape punishment! You'll stay in the capital."
Tao Yao insisted: "This guilty subject wants to go back."
The emperor: "Absolutely not!"
Tao Yao thought it over. Fine, she could investigate who had destroyed her family while she was at it.
The ministers knelt and wept. "Your Majesty! Let her go back!"
Tao Yao stroked Li Nong's little hand and praised her earnestly. "Your Majesty, your wife is so clever."
The emperor: "Get your ass to the southwest."
Tao Yao took Li Nong by the hand and cheerfully headed off to the southwest.
The ministers, a new batch of them this time, knelt and wept. "Your Majesty! You're letting a tiger return to the mountains!"
The emperor: "Hey, leave my wife behind!"
The romance:
Tao Yao: "Your father is the enemy who killed mine."
Li Nong rolled up her sleeves. "I'll help you! Buy one, get one free. You can have my mother too! Want my sister? You can have her too!"
Tao Yao: That's enough, that's enough.
Tao Yao's daily routine:
Fight, take revenge, and talk back to the emperor.
Li Nong's daily routine:
1. Keep Tao Yao in line.
2. Figure out how to get her own family wiped out.
3. Help Tao Yao talk back to the emperor.
[Please note]
1. Happy ending, one-on-one romance, both leads are each other's first.
2. Fictional setting with original worldbuilding. Don't overanalyze it.
3. Set in a feudal society, with a subtle romance.
Theme: Even strict social conventions can't stand in the way of love
Very well written, I like it!