[VIP Notice: This novel will switch to paid chapters on Thursday, December 28. The paid chapters start from Chapter 25, so please don't purchase them again if you've already read them. Thank you for all your support so far, and please continue supporting the novel!]
Blurb 1
Gu Yongning was cherished by the emperor from childhood. Throughout the capital, no one could match her in status and nobility. But as the emperor taught her to become the dazzling jewel of the imperial family, he also taught her to become the sharpest sword in his hand.
"The imperial harem must not interfere in politics."
When Gu Yongning was a child studying in the imperial study, she often heard ministers passing through say those words. Even then, she couldn't understand why women were forbidden from participating in government. The realm belonged to the Gu clan, and she was its most outstanding princess. If they could involve themselves in the affairs of state, why couldn't she?
So when she pointed her sword at a criminal official in Youzhou, and he said, "The imperial harem must not interfere in politics. A princess has no authority to kill a court official," she couldn't help laughing. With a smile on her lips, she drove her sword another inch into him. "The imperial harem must not interfere in politics? Then I have interfered. A princess can't kill a court official? Then I have. What are you going to do about it?"
"A dying man shouldn't worry about me, someone who intends to live a long, long time."
Later, as the court was repeatedly torn apart by struggles over the heir, she took up the bow used by generations of Great Jing emperors and aimed it at the ministers below, who were threatening to die in protest to force her out of government. She watched them tremble in terror at what she had done.
She laughed softly. "If you want the noble reputation of a minister who dares to die in protest, you shouldn't dodge my arrows."
Blurb 2
A sudden upheaval in Youzhou disrupts Gu Yongning's years of careful planning. She has no choice but to leave the capital under the pretext of praying for blessings and investigate the truth in person. On the way, she unexpectedly meets Shen Zhixing, a young physician from Medicine King Valley.
Years of training have taught her not to trust people who suddenly appear at her side. When she uncovers the secret behind Shen Zhixing's name, she uses it to try to make him work for her.
But she never imagined that someone had laid this trap for her long ago. Now that she has fallen into it, she has no choice but to set off with a bastard son of a marquis who is deliberately concealing his identity. At first, she thinks they are simply using and scheming against each other for their own ends. But later, when she sees him fall before her, she finds herself willing to save him at any cost.
Back in the capital, she painstakingly lays out her plans, only for Ji Li, the newly arrived junior minister of the Court of Judicial Review, to interfere. Forced to use love as bait, she weaves a net of affection to lure him deeper and deeper.
"Don't you want power? I'll kill everyone competing with you and make you empress. How does that sound?" Ji Li knows she has ulterior motives for getting close to him, but he doesn't care. He's happy to play along with her game of love.
He thinks they will go on tangling with each other like this forever. Then he sees her smile at that man, sees them pledge their love beneath an ancient tree in the moonlight. It is dusk, and he is standing far away, but he knows all the same that she has freely given the love he longs for to someone else.
"Ji Li, I don't love you, and I never will."
"I don't want your love. I only want you."
Suddenly, he no longer wants her affection. He only wants to keep her by his side forever. What if she never loves him?
"Ji Li, you saw it yourself, didn't you?"
"You know it's a trap. Why insist on falling into it?"
"Then keep deceiving me forever!"
[The full novel is complete! I only wrote three bonus chapters. If there are any side couples you'd like to see more of, please tell me in the comments.]
Reading guide:
1. This is a strong-female-lead story that also features many different women. The male lead does not take up much of the novel.
2. Supporting characters are not just tools to highlight the leads. They each get their own development, and the author has something to express through every character. If that's not your thing, please don't read.
3. The specialized knowledge about chess in the novel may not be accurate. Some details are made up by the author.
Theme: This world belongs to women just as much as it belongs to men
This is the most logical thing I have ever seen, and the heroine is also well designed!
Don't worry, everyone, this book has saved manuscripts (quite a lot), the story line is very complete, there will be no pitfalls??????
Come on, stay with you all the time!
Great, come on, it's very well written.
I want to ask if there is any plot about brother and sister fighting each other? I want the heroine to be the emperor, but they are fighting each other
Interested, I wish there were more female supporting characters.
I really like what the author wrote in the text, "Even the supporting characters will have corresponding portrayals." I have already saved it, but it is still too short. I will come back to read it when I get better. Come on, madam!
Dear readers, because I have applied for the list again, I have to reduce the number of words a little to save them, but don't worry, because I have saved the manuscript to a number that is impossible to miss (please tell me, the update is just at the beginning of the story), so please wait for me!
At present, it will be updated with the list. The list will be updated daily. If you are lucky enough to be included in V, it will be updated daily. Please take a look at the children (please!). Just say something and the children will be full of motivation!