The Empress's Successor

In her previous life, Xue Mingwan entered the inner palace as empress and spent her life hailed by all as a virtuous queen. Outside, she was surrounded by flowers and praise; within, all was faded silk and tatters. She exhausted every scheme and calculation just to secure a somewhat peaceful old age. Reborn, she knows what lies ahead and is certain she can protect her family through the raging storms. She thought she would never again have to face Qin He, that living stone Buddha, cold and heartless. Yet despite all her careful plans, she still cannot escape the imperial edict arranging their marriage.

What is fated will come to pass. As she bids her parents farewell, she recalls all the wrongs and entanglements of her past and present lives, and can only think that Qin He truly is the bane of her existence.

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Ever since Qin He returned to the capital alone as a boy, he knew he was destined to be a solitary man. In his life, he eliminated the consort clans, brought the two Qins into accord, defeated the Tatars, promoted education, opened maritime trade, and measured the fields. He believed he had done right by the people and the world. If he had any regrets, it was choosing the wrong wife in his youth, which sparked a succession crisis late in life, consumed years of his effort, and nearly kept him from avenging a great wrong, with endless troubles left in its wake.

Reborn, he sees that the harem is harmonious and the imperial clan is dutiful, and is deeply relieved to have married Xue Mingwan in this life. But when Xue Mingwan learns that he, too, has returned to life, she immediately removes her hairpins and begs forgiveness, saying she has had enough of being empress and now wants only the peace of a life devoted to the Buddha.

Husband and wife are at once the closest and most distant of kin. He had thought they were a harmonious imperial couple, a help to the prosperity of the realm. His wife had never wanted that.

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I walked this road, and one by one, my parents’ love, my friends’ loyalty, and my siblings’ affection all left me. I had long accepted my fate and was content to be an unfeeling, fearless stone Buddha. But she taught me to reclaim my joys and sorrows, and become a living, breathing person again.

A side story in the Two Qin series. The previous-life plot and related stories can be found in the Two Qin collection. Both leads are reborn. The heroine is an aloof sister-complex, and the hero is a scumbag who lives for his career. His past life is not excused; this life has a happy ending.

Next historical romance ↓

The histories say that Emperor Yuanlie of Southern Chu and Empress Changping of Western Liang were known as the Two Sages. The emperor and empress loved one another deeply, and the two dynasties, which had been at odds for decades, united peacefully without a single soldier being sent to battle. Later generations could never understand the fairy-tale romance of their ancestors, born amid bloodshed. When they finally meet the couple themselves, the two look at each other, and the empress says, “Actually, we both fell for each other at the same time. I just moved faster and snatched him first.”

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Li Ye was cherished by his parents from childhood and studied under ministers and generals. He was the darling of all Southern Chu. After ascending the throne, he expanded farmland, strengthened the army, purged the court, and vowed to crush the northern enemies and restore the realm. No one doubted his ambition or ability, but no one could have imagined that a trip to the frontier to inspect enemy movements would lead to an unexpected romantic encounter.

His love interest was eighteen, breathtakingly beautiful, and passionate. Even the young emperor, whose standards of beauty were impossibly high, couldn’t resist the temptation to spirit the beauty away and keep him hidden in a golden house. The beauty played along, coquettish and coy, pushing and pulling until Li Ye finally won him over. But the next day, Li Ye found himself a thousand miles away. The beauty stroked his head with slender fingers and gazed at him tenderly. “Though I can’t give you a title, I certainly won’t mistreat you.”

!!!!! You lunatic, let me out of this carriage right now (???皿??)!!!!!!!

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Jialan came to the frontier to clear her head during a low point in her life. There she met a young man from the southern dynasty, graceful as an orchid and handsome as a flower. He was interested in her, and she was interested in him. She had planned to find herself a long-term companion while she was away, but then a sudden crisis struck at home. After a moment’s hesitation, she simply bundled up the southern beauty and took him along too.

The beauty was suddenly kidnapped, and longed for home, day and night. She was happy to indulge him a little. In her eyes, the beauty’s refusal to compete for her favor meant he was virtuous and gracious; his distaste for makeup meant he was simple by nature; his aloofness meant he was noble in character... She fell deeper and deeper, even wanting to defy everyone and give him a title. But she could never have imagined, not even with a hundred brains, that the man she kept hidden away in a golden house was the Southern Emperor himself, the very enemy she had always feared and considered her greatest adversary in life.

All her tenderness vanished at once. She stared at Li Ye, sharpening her knife. “Should I kill you now, or extort a ransom first and kill you afterward?”

Theme: Everyone is responsible for the fate of the world