In the nineteenth year of Yuande, Prince Guangshun raised an army in rebellion and advanced on the capital. The Son of Heaven fled west in panic and died in Xijing.
A prophecy was circulating: "The Son of Heaven opens the city gates in the dead of night. Why should the true dragon be inferior to a lesser dragon?"
The treacherous minister Shen Guzhao led the officials in a search of the palace and found the Fifth Prince in the Cold Palace.
The treacherous minister forged an imperial decree, enthroned the Fifth Prince, and led the people of the realm in quelling the chaos and defending the capital.
The Fifth Prince (not really): No, I can't do this.
...Because the Fifth Prince was actually the Fifth Princess, Pei Jindu.
The lesser dragon was, in fact, a false dragon.
Pei Jindu: Thanks for asking. I'm the lesser dragon.
The empress anxiously kept her secret while working with Shen Guzhao to coordinate forces across the realm. Together, they finally crushed the rebel army and won the war.
As the fighting grew intense, Shen Guzhao spent every night in the palace for months, so he could discuss matters at a moment's notice.
As they spent day and night together and their feelings began to grow...
Shen Guzhao accidentally discovered that the new ruler was a woman.
It did not go like the tales, where the empress and the chief minister put their grievances behind them, fell deeply in love, and lived happily ever after.
The late emperor's final decree arrived, stating that an unborn child, if male, could inherit the throne.
The young emperor returned to the capital. Before he arrived, the empress was secretly poisoned to death in the palace.
As she died, Pei Jindu thought: Damn the heavens! So Shen Guzhao was the wicked lesser dragon who devoured the world all along!
Given another chance, the vengeful ghost Pei Jindu opened her eyes to find herself in a tavern. In the private room next door sat Shen Guzhao, then a Secretariat Drafter.
The storyteller downstairs was saying:
"The chief minister entered the forbidden palace at night. The empress had not yet finished dressing, and he discovered she was a woman. The chief minister was overjoyed and made advances to the empress, who accepted. Hand in hand, they entered the bridal chamber, where they rolled in the red bed curtains and spent a passionate night together, consummating their love..."
Drafting Secretary Shen: "Utter nonsense."
Pei Jindu: "That's complete bullshit."
Drafting Secretary Shen: "Hmph!"
Pei Jindu: "Pah!"
★ [Content warnings]
1. This blurb was written on February 9, 2023.
2. Only the heroine is reborn. The hero is neither wholly good nor wholly evil, and is not a good person in the conventional sense.
3. The heroine's death in her previous life had another cause.
4. My take on love and hate (?). There is quite a bit of romance, with political scheming at kindergarten level. I mainly wanted to write a story where an empress and a chief minister start out trying to kill each other.
5. Fictional setting, extremely fictional. Happy ending.
6. I don't think there are any other content warnings. If you find one, please point it out kindly in the comments, and I'll add it here right away.
Theme: These stars are not the ones that shone last night.
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