A Guide to Becoming Empress

I'm going premium tomorrow, starting at around 70,000 words. I've been a little sick lately, but I'll do my best to make up the word count.

Li Yunjiao never imagined she would transmigrate, let alone be born into the body of a daughter of a deposed emperor.

For the first eight years of her life, she lived cautiously and in constant fear. She had not even been allowed to study.

Then, when she was eight, her fate began to change. Her father returned to Luoyang and was made Crown Prince, while she was made a commandery princess. Her brothers and sisters, remembering the hardships she had endured, doted on her and treated her with compassion.

But Li Yunjiao was not satisfied. Having experienced power, she naturally yearned for even more. And after seeing how her grandmother could decide another person's life or death with a single word, her longing for power grew boundless.

Later, her grandmother died and her father succeeded to the throne. Li Yunjiao became the most honored princess in the realm. By then, her grandmother had nearly slaughtered all her siblings, yet her father chose her foolish younger brother over his clever daughter.

Then perhaps one more person could die, Li Yunjiao thought. She was no longer the little girl everyone could mock when she was eight. She was a princess who could decide whether another person lived or died with a single word.

The early story focuses on the female lead's growth and moves at a slow pace. The later story focuses on seizing the throne. There is a male lead and a romance, but the female lead has dated more than one person. She is special and irreplaceable to the male lead, but he is not her only one. She loves power before she loves him.

This is a fictional setting modeled on the Tang dynasty. The early part draws on history from the Wu Zhou period, but the later plot diverges from history. Please don't take it as fact.

This novel has entered a writing contest. Reason for entry: The female lead struggles to rise from her position as an impoverished commandery princess, eventually becoming an empress who works for the people's welfare.

A little promotion for my upcoming historical romance

Romance-focused + simmering tension

As the only daughter doted on by the Yun family, Yun Suwan was fifteen when she learned that she had an older sister who had been living away from home since childhood. This sister was supposedly her father's daughter with his mistress, and had been raised at a country estate.

Yun Suwan would be hard-pressed to claim she felt no resentment toward this suddenly appeared older sister. Deep down, she was determined to outshine her.

But when she met Yun Suili, whose manner was as gentle as an orchid and who treated everyone with warmth and courtesy, those thoughts immediately melted away.

Still, Yun Suwan couldn't quite let go of her resentment. It led her to deliberately send her pet cat into Yun Suili's courtyard. Yun Suiwu simply picked up the cat, held it in her arms, and returned it to her, never mentioning Yun Suwan's deliberate mischief.

Later, when Yun Suwan fell into the water at a banquet, it was this older sister who jumped in without hesitation and rescued her. Grateful for having her life saved, Yun Suwan put aside all other thoughts and decided to get along peacefully with her older sister.

But as they spent more time together, she noticed that something was amiss with Yun Suili. He would not let anyone disturb him while bathing, and he never allowed the maids to attend to him closely.

Then one day, Yun Suwan accidentally saw "her" bathing. She clearly saw Yun Suili's Adam's apple and his flat chest. Remembering all the intimate things she had done when she thought he was a woman, Yun Suwan was both embarrassed and annoyed. Yun Suili, as usual, pulled her into his arms and said teasingly, "Hmm, why aren't you calling me 'Older Sister' now? My dear 'little sister.'"

One couple, both virgins

Mischievous, clever, wicked catlike female lead x aloof male lead who disguises himself as a woman

Content warning: The female lead is unfriendly to the male lead at first, but he doesn't mind. Readers who expect the protagonists to have high moral standards should avoid this.

Theme: Women can make their own way in the world.