Record of the Cocoon

A cocoon gathers countless silent nights, names long forgotten or immortal, truths uncovered or disguised. They writhe and hover, waiting for souls that wander into this place.

A brief account is a cage built from words, a fortress raised with language. Entangled with ancient history, weaving nameless legends, linking together what has endured since time immemorial:

※ The arcs are not entirely independent. The prologue to 171 is also the prologue to the whole book;

※ Transmigrate into a book, with no original host;

※ History will not be changed. There will be plenty of time-compression magic;

※ Arc titles:

Spring and Autumn: Feuds Between States and Families (Wu-Chu conflict, Wu-Yue rivalry)

Warring States: The Strategists and the Hundred Schools of Thought (c. 350–230 BC)

The Qin's Demise: The Chu-Han Divide (Fall of Qin to the Early Han)

The Han's Tragedy: Demons and Monsters (Year 1 of Yuanshou to Year 2 of Zhenghe)

Bonus: Dust and Grass

Coming soon: The Imperial Son-in-Law Ordered to Marry Me Must Help Me Usurp the Throne

She was a princess, and at first, she was somewhat unruly.

She heard of the people's suffering and the hardships of their lives, so she studied government administration and provided disaster relief and aid to the poor.

But people called her a hypocrite putting on a show.

She heard of foreign incursions and danger on the borders, so she studied military strategy and trained in the martial arts.

But people said it was pointless.

As she grew older, she learned that even a princess was merely a tool of imperial power.

For example, in the emperor's eyes, her marriage was nothing but a shackle, meant to bind a top scholar he would never approve of.

So she obediently married out, obediently bore a child, and became a good princess in her father's eyes.

One day, she suddenly said to her husband, “I'm going to usurp the throne.”

Her husband replied, “I'll take care of logistics.”

*

Was it fortunate or unfortunate for a top scholar to be picked out by the emperor as a son-in-law right after the examinations?

Becoming a princess's husband was practically the end of a career in office.

He had ambitions yet unfulfilled and vengeance yet unavenged. He could not settle for being a powerless consort.

But fate was unpredictable. Who could have guessed that the princess he was to marry had once saved his life when he was at the end of his rope?

How could he not repay that debt?

*

There seemed to be some misunderstanding between them. Each thought that a marriage arranged by imperial decree could hardly be called love.

Yet as time passed, it became hard to tell whether they were indifferent or in perfect understanding:

Between them, it seemed there was never any need for many words.

Just as she had saved him without asking why all those years ago, now he could accompany her and defy the whole world without asking why.

Theme: Explore history and carry civilization forward.