Domination

The day Princess Wen Jiang arrived in her carriage, everyone said she was the most beautiful woman under heaven, as lovely as the river goddess of Luo. Gazing at her from afar, Zhao Bian thought that though this elder sister was beautiful, she too would not escape the fate of being married off for an alliance, just like herself. Lost in thought, she suddenly met the princess's gaze. The princess raised a hand and pointed at her. "I want her as my marquis of war." The emperor said, "She is a woman." Indeed, she was a woman. But the most beautiful woman under heaven, the most cherished princess of the Hua Dynasty, looked straight at her and said just two words: "She can." For those two words, Zhao Bian left her home, rode south, and gave up ten years of her life.

At the martial arts tournament, teenage Zhao Bian knew nothing of keeping a low profile or drawing unwanted attention. One look from Wen Jiang was all it took to make her eager to prove herself. In the end, a sword shattered her shoulder bone, leaving her bedridden. Her mother, furious at her lack of judgment, told her that the princess had not visited once while she was unconscious. She urged Zhao Bian to go home and give up. But Zhao Bian seemed bewitched. She refused to believe it and refused to return. Until the princess cradled her face, gazed at her, kissed her, and shed a tear as she called her a fool. It turned out she had been nothing more than a pawn.

Later, they still ended up together. They could no longer tell which words were sincere and which were schemes. They tested and tormented each other, yet faced the fall of the palace together, fled together, survived countless brushes with death together, and slept side by side. Amid ragged breaths and rising and falling bodies, Wen Jiang cradled her face and gazed at her. Only then did Zhao Bian understand: that gaze was no different from the one when she was twelve, or from the one when Wen Jiang first kissed her. It was not a scheme, and she was no pawn. It was simply an invitation to stand side by side.

Wen Jiang sought to become emperor, and uproar erupted throughout the dynasty. Beyond its borders, the ancient Roman Empire brought its armies to the frontier, taking the people hostage and reviving the old marriage alliance proposal in an attempt to prevent a woman from ascending the throne. In the great hall, the ministers were nearly scared out of their wits. They argued every old and new point they could think of, all in the hope of persuading Wen Jiang to give up the throne. Meanwhile, Zhao Bian led a force straight into the Roman Empire, captured its emperor alive, and listed his crimes on the wall of a border city between the two nations. In the end, she beheaded him herself. The world was stunned. Zhao Bian became a legend through that battle, and no one dared stand in their way again.

And so, the first empress in the history of the Hua Dynasty and its first female god of war were born.

Couple:

A younger, brilliant inventor who eventually becomes a god of war, top x an older, scheming beauty who eventually becomes a queen, bottom

Update schedule: Thursday to Wednesday, with at least 7,000 words per update

Theme: The hardest thing in life is finding someone who walks the same path. If you are lucky enough to find them, cherish them.