The Eldest Princess's Path to the Throne

-The overlooked little princess rises to become empress and changes the course of the realm-

Powerful heroine | Political intrigue | Playing the fool to catch the tiger | Ensemble cast of women in politics

In the winter of the twenty-eighth year of Jiahe, the Imperial Observatory made a prophecy: "A lone phoenix shall be born, its fate entangled with the Ziwei star."

At the same time, a cry rang out in the empress's chambers, announcing the arrival of a princess.

Zhang Ruiping understood that, as a royal outcast banished to the outskirts of the capital from birth, she would need allies if she wanted to become a wildfire that burned away the decaying dynasty.

She had the following options:

a. The quick-witted, clever wife of a provincial commissioner, who manages the province's affairs on his behalf

b. The prime minister's legitimate daughter, who roams the martial world and has friends and connections everywhere

c. A master physician whose medical skills have no limits and who can come back to life even after falling off a cliff

d. A teacher whose female students are found throughout the land and whose sole purpose is to open the civil service examinations to women

e. A spirited female general who chased you all night but can be persuaded to change sides

f. A beggar girl who becomes your guide after you find yourself stranded in unfamiliar surroundings

Zhang Ruiping said that only children had to choose. Of course, she would take them all!!!

Her journey south from the capital was both the end and the beginning.

When she first arrived in Dongling, corpses from starvation were everywhere, and grain was desperately needed. Two officials in charge of grain transport kept passing the buck, so she summoned the hidden guard who shouldn't have been there in the first place:

"Send the grain, or die. Pick one."

After the starving people of Jirang resorted to cannibalism and panic spread through the populace, the local provincial commissioner used a witchcraft scandal as an excuse to bury and burn the starving masses alive. Zhang Ruiping struck with her sword, severing his head and spraying blood everywhere. She had executed a local official without authorization, yet all she said was:

"He deserved to die, didn't he?"

When a fake death sent her falling from a cliff, and the life of a beggar made her taste the world's deepest suffering, Zhang Ruiping finally understood:

Relying on a foolish emperor? Better to take the throne herself!

Borrow her uncle's blade, blaze a path to rebellion, and sever her ties to her family before the Vermilion Bird Gate!

P.S. The explanation of the title "Elder Princess" is copied from Baidu.

An Elder Princess is generally the emperor's legitimate daughter, a princess who has rendered meritorious service, or the emperor's elder sister. During the Han dynasty, an Elder Princess held a rank equivalent to that of a feudal lord and enjoyed great prestige. In the Western Han, the title was bestowed either on the emperor's legitimate eldest daughter or on his sisters. This changed during the Eastern Han, when it became a way to show special favor. By the end of the Eastern Han, it had become customary to title the emperor's sisters Elder Princesses. The heroine in this story is the emperor's legitimate eldest daughter, which is why she bears the title of Elder Princess.

Theme: Establishing our hearts for Heaven and our lives for the people.