This Woman Shall Rule the World

The young Daoist nun Ji Ying was the orphaned daughter of the late Crown Prince Ji Ping. When she was born, strange signs appeared in the heavens. A Daoist priestess took one look at her and said, "I see phoenix eyes and a dragon's neck, with a pearl on her lips. One day, she will surely rule the realm." At the time, the emperor's eldest daughter, Ji Ping, was locked in a fierce struggle with her younger brother, the Prince of Chu, and her position as heir was already precarious. Afraid someone might overhear those words, she entrusted Ji Ying to the Daoist priestess, who took the child back to her temple to raise. Sure enough, only a few years after Ji Ying was sent away, the Prince of Chu plotted to have Ji Ping assassinated at the Yujing Gate. He then forced the old emperor to abdicate, took the throne for himself, changed the era name to "Kaijing," and slaughtered Ji Ping's entire family. But the young girl who had been sent away as a baby remained beyond Emperor Kaijing's reach. It wasn't until more than a decade later that he discovered she had been living all along at Hqi Temple, outside Luoyang. He went to the temple himself. The girl looked frail and innocent. Now secure on the throne, he didn't think it worth the effort to wipe her out, so he waved a hand and said, "Make her a princess and send her north to marry for peace!" No princess sent to marry for peace had ever returned to court. Emperor Kaijing never imagined that, years later, Ji Ying would return to Luoyang, bringing with her a hundred thousand Rouran cavalry and the lost lands of Yanbei, to submit to his rule. She approached the imperial throne with graceful steps and smiled. "This time, I've come back for no other reason than to ask my imperial uncle to grant me a princedom." A few years later, the new prince stayed by his side, humble and obedient. By the time Emperor Kaijing realized something was wrong, it was already too late. Sitting on the imperial throne, he watched his usually gentle and composed niece climb the imperial steps, one by one, until she stood before him. Ji Ying raised her hand and slapped him so hard that stars danced before his eyes and his ears rang. Even so, he heard every word she gritted out: "You've sat on that dragon throne long enough. It's time to give my mother's throne back to me!" Reader's Guide: 1. The female lead is a wolf in sheep's clothing: a scheming, smiling tiger, a natural-born actress, ruthless and a little mad. 2. The main plot is revenge and a struggle for power, with romance as a secondary plot. The male lead is a virgin, and men suffer. 3. The career plot has a happy ending. The romance may not. 4. The Central Plains dynasty in this story is an egalitarian fictional empire. Men and women alike can become emperor, hold office, and lead armies. Except for the imperial bloodline, whose members all bear the surname Ji, people outside the imperial family customarily take their mother's surname. Theme: Once the heart is set, things can be accomplished. -- Wu Zetian, "Rules for Ministers"