The Red Tassel Binds the Azure Dragon

[Updates irregularly! I'll come back and finish the rest after my two exams this year. I'm truly sorry!]

Zhao Wanying is the unloved eleventh princess of the Qing Kingdom.

The empress bullies her, her siblings suppress her, and her maids mock her. They all think she's weak and useless, an easy target to push around. They don't know that she endures everything while waiting for her chance, her chance to escape the deep palace.

That night, she killed the crown prince, burned down the Eastern Palace, and fled the imperial palace. He was ordered by the emperor to capture her.

Amid torrential rain, clad in a black robe embroidered with golden flying fish, he looked like a living King of Hell from the underworld.

She thought she was as good as dead, but when his blade fell, it veered aside at the last moment.

He didn't kill her. Instead, he left a scar on her face.

From then on, his blade split her life in two.

Before, she had swallowed humiliation and endured hardship, a useless princess whom anyone in the Cold Palace could bully.

Afterward...

Disguised as a man, she became a lay monk at Longshan Temple.

She braved a storm to enter the mountains and became the ruthless third-in-command of the Eighteen Strongholds.

In a silver crown and crimson robes, she rode into battle, slaughtered thousands of enemy troops at the Guanlong Pass, and pointed her sword straight at the capital, a masked demon of war.

She destroyed powerful clans, executed wealthy tyrants, drove out the barbarians, and seized power as regent by holding the emperor hostage.

From single-minded vengeance and a heart full of hatred to seeing the world and carrying the people in her heart.

With a red-tasseled spear in hand, she dares to bind even the Azure Dragon.

Watch a fallen princess rise in a single day, set the realm in order, and bring peace to the world.

She will give the common people a golden age of peace and prosperity!

An aloof, lofty general x a fallen princess seeking revenge

Two powerful, equally unhinged leads

Reader's guide

1. The dynasty is fictional, with many original worldbuilding details. Some explanations of these will appear at the ends of chapters.

2. This is my first novel. Please feel free to add it to your collection, comment, and offer corrections.

Coming soon: "Golden Scales in the Pond"

[Plot summary]

In the tenth year of Chenghua, an examination scandal broke out in the capital. Eight unsuccessful scholars set themselves on fire at the palace gates, igniting the fury of the people.

Emperor Dacheng was enraged and ordered the Vice Minister of Justice to investigate. In the end, the investigation revealed that the mastermind was the youngest son of the Meritorious Marquis.

The youngest son of the Meritorious Marquis?

That handsome wastrel who did nothing decent, spending his days teasing cats and walking dogs, and frequenting the pleasure quarters?

Who would believe that a spoiled rich boy was the mastermind?

No one did, but no one could deny it either.

Everyone in the capital knew this was just a trumped-up charge by the imperial family.

The storm was gathering, the empire teetering on the brink, and the Meritorious Marquis's clan was in danger!

But just as the great families began kicking them while they were down, war broke out at the border, and the barbarians captured ten cities in succession. With the barbarians poised to invade the capital, not a single court official dared to fight.

Only the condemned son dared to lead an army and stake everything on one battle.

That one battle stretched into three years. On the day the setting sun sank over the northwestern frontier, a fierce snowstorm swept through the imperial court.

The Meritorious Marquis was poisoned to death at the hunting grounds, leaving his title vacant. At last, the wastrel who had spent three years fighting abroad was returning to the capital.

On her return, she would investigate old and new cases and settle old and new scores. Just watch her turn the capital upside down!

[Romance summary]

Li Chi had disguised herself as a man since childhood, hiding her talents and posing as a spoiled young lord as she roamed the capital.

If she was a puddle of mud in the capital's underbelly, then the Song family's astonishingly gifted yet sickly third young master was a cloud in its sky.

She couldn't stand him, and he couldn't stand her. For years, they clashed at every turn and could never see eye to eye.

But later, when the examination scandal broke, she became the scapegoat.

While everyone else kicked her when she was down, Third Young Master Song stood firmly by her side. He beat the grievance drum for her, knelt outside the palace hall on her behalf, and was banished by Emperor Dacheng to the desolate land of Bashu.

Later, she finally returned to the capital, and he too was recalled for his accomplishments.

When they met again, she thought it would be at court, or perhaps at his residence,

but she never expected it to be in bed...

In the end, she defiled the capital's lofty, untouchable flower.

After a night of passion, she didn't wake to tender words and loving confessions. Instead, she grabbed him by the throat and threatened, "If you dare tell anyone, I'll hang you from the city wall until you're dried out."

Third Young Master Song: ...

Actually, he would never tell anyone.

1. The heroine disguises herself as a man. At first, she pretends to be weak while hiding her strength; later, she unleashes her full power.

2. The male lead is a scheming concubine-born son. He keeps his head down, bides his time, plots every step, and has many secret identities.

3. Still focused on power struggles, with plenty of romance as well.

4. There will be an important second male lead, a deranged, trashy prince.

[My dear friend's novel] "Crossing the Mortal World, Not the Immortal"

Cold immortal x unhinged ruthless hero

Lovecraftian-style cultivation, boundless magic!

Theme: Fate is meant to be resisted