What Should I Do After Becoming the Heroine of a BE Shipping Novel?

As the first empress in the history of the Great Jing Dynasty, Gu Zhuoxing was a woman of unmatched talent in both civil and military affairs. She spent her life striving for the best, exhausting herself day and night for her country, never imagining that her own fiancé would stab her in the back and end her life with a cup of poisoned wine.

When she opened her eyes again, the former empress found herself in the body of the heroine of a novel about choosing a romantic partner, a story that ended in tragedy. Her namesake, a princess of the Southern Tang Kingdom, loved collecting handsome men from every walk of life to fill her harem. Men across the country trembled at the very thought of her, and in the end she met the inevitable fate of being hacked to death.

Having been betrayed by her betrothed in her previous life, and never having had much of a romantic streak to begin with, Gu Zhuoxing decided after being reborn to shut her heart away for good. Men will only slow down my plan to lie flat.

However, on the very first day she ordered an end to the forced recruitment of handsome men, Gu Zhuoxing received a concerned inquiry from her adoptive imperial brother, the emperor of this life, who considerately bestowed two handsome men upon her.

Gu Zhuoxing: All right, now I know where the original's habit of collecting handsome men came from.

To avoid suspicion, she had no choice but to maintain the original's persona. In public, Gu Zhuoxing indulged in wine and women; in private, she turned her harem into a national talent-training center. The male supporting characters from the original novel, who had expected to be seized by the wicked princess, stared blankly at the books and ink before them, and at Gu Zhuoxing holding a teaching pointer.

Though she didn't want to return to court, she still cared deeply about her country. With her empress's professional instincts kicking in, Gu Zhuoxing said: What are you looking at? How can a grown man fail to contribute to his country and its people? Hoping to live off me? Not a chance! Every one of you is going to become a pillar of the nation!

After that, a previously unknown musician enchanted the capital with a single performance; an unheralded painter created masterpieces; a poor scholar came third in the imperial examination; a young physician wrote books that saved countless lives...

When asked the secret of their success, the men, each more handsome than the last, merely smiled without a word. In secret, however, they reflexively rubbed the palms that Princess Gu had once beaten red beneath their sleeves.

But Gu Zhuoxing, who had vowed never to touch court politics again and only wanted to lie flat while sending all kinds of talent to her motherland in this life, was ultimately pushed by fate onto the same path as in her previous life, once again taking the highest seat in the realm.

Unlike in her previous life, the person standing beside her and facing the world with her would never betray her.

The Ling family had served in the military for generations and was famed for its loyal service, yet in the end it was framed by treacherous ministers. The women of the family were enslaved, while the men were exiled a thousand miles away.

Ling Shaoqing, once the young general of the Ling household, was also sentenced to exile. But because of his beauty, the princess asked the emperor for him, locked him in her harem, and waited to summon him to her bed.

Summoned to the pavilion in the middle of the lake at the princess's residence, Ling Shaoqing hadn't yet seen the scene he'd dreaded when he watched the princess slip and fall into the water.

He jumped in to save her without a second thought, never imagining that the person he pulled from the water would become the light he would spend the rest of his life protecting.

With the help of that light, the treacherous ministers were punished, his family's name was cleared, and their status restored. Yet after becoming General Ling once again, Ling Shaoqing found himself longing deeply for the days he had spent in the princess's residence.

Years later, after driving away a host of rivals and defeating countless foreign invaders, he stood before the princess, now empress, once more, victory in hand.

"I will never betray you in this life. I swear it with my life."

May I be the waters of the heavens, washing clean the three thousand stars of this world. I will turn the tides and build a prosperous age, never failing my country or my beloved.

Please note before reading:

1. The dynasty is fictional and includes many invented details. Please don't overanalyze it.

2. There will be a love rivalry early on, followed by the male lead pursuing the female lead. The ending is a happy, one-to-one pairing.

3. Feel free to discuss if you don't like the story, but please don't attack the author or the characters. Thank you very much.

4. This story is exclusive to Jinjiang. Reposting or adapting it in any form is prohibited. Please support the official Jinjiang release. Comments on pirated copies will be deleted by the author.

Blurb archived on 2022-10-29

Theme: Career-minded female lead x love-struck male lead