[The First Empress]
After a failed coup, Princess Yan Zhaoting is sent a thousand miles away to the Kingdom of Gaoxia to marry for political reasons.
The new emperor: "Elder Sister, the most important thing for a woman is to get married. Power struggles are not a game you can afford to play."
Unable to speak the language, in a foreign land, without troops or power, is she supposed to give up politics and spend her days cooking? Never! Yan Zhaoting will pursue power until her dying breath. She will never surrender.
Years later, the first empress of Xia arrives in the Yan capital.
[The Second Empress]
The Kingdom of Rhodes is torn by war, and its people are displaced. Desperate for a meal, Shu Luosha sells herself to bandits as a henchman, only to accidentally beat one of them to death.
Later, she sells herself to a horse ranch, then to a salt mine.
Some of her countrymen mock her behind her back in Chinese, calling her a three-surnamed servant from the Book of Han.
Shu Luosha just smiles and replies in Chinese: "I've long admired Han learning, and have always wanted to give myself a Han name. Since you know so much, tell me what you think: how about Wu Zetian?"
[The Third Empress]
The Crown Prince Xun of Yan is precocious, clever, wise, and approachable. He governs the state flawlessly as regent, but one day it is revealed that he is a woman. Stripped of his court robes, he is imprisoned in Yong Hall for thirteen years.
War ravages the land. The Hu people burn, loot, and kill, slaughtering the royal family. Emperor Wu and Emperor Qing are both captured, and the kingdom teeters on the brink of collapse. With the court left leaderless, someone brings up the deposed crown prince in Yong Hall.
Deposed Crown Prince, New Empress Xun: "So the ruler of a dying kingdom doesn't mind that I'm a woman after all?"
[TIP:
1. These three ideas will each be written as a long standalone story if they grow long enough; otherwise, they'll be episodic. The three empresses live in the same era and will have some minor connections.
2. Shu Luosha does not actually name herself "Wu Zetian"!
3. The full story is written in advance and is expected to be published over winter break.
4. Synopsis screenshot dated 2023.09.02]
Theme: Human will can triumph over fate; women supporting one another
