Dream of Heaven

This was written before I signed a contract. There's not much to see here. I only locked it because the site would otherwise add another dead tree to my collection.

Everything that needed explaining has been explained. I wrote this when I was young and reckless. I read too much and thought too little, and the ending is rushed. You can read it as a short, mindless story, but proceed with caution.

The night Chen Yu ascended the throne, she neither met her ancestors above nor the spirits of the underworld below. Instead, absurdly, she dreamed of a book.

The book spoke of a harmonious, egalitarian society, completely at odds with the Great Liang Dynasty. Chen Yu thought of the current state of affairs: wolves and tigers circling the country, a feeble national strength, and a depressed economy. She closed her eyes and decided to pretend she hadn't dreamed anything.

But to her surprise, from that night on, it was as though she'd unlocked a dream-book skill. She began dreaming of all kinds of books, books that could never have existed in the Great Liang Dynasty, whose words were far ahead of their time, yet absolutely true.

Chen Yu understood. Heaven was blessing Great Liang.

What could they do about a spreading plague that killed countless people, and parasites eating away at the treasury?

No problem. Chen Yu would teach them to use the books from her dreams to find the right remedies and save the people.

What could they do about infertile land and poor harvests, when farmers couldn't even feed themselves but still had to pay grain taxes, leaving the people in misery?

No problem. Chen Yu would teach them to use the books from her dreams to improve the soil, adapt to local conditions, escape poverty, and achieve shared prosperity.

What about a partner who's quiet and taciturn, and always thinks they're just a stand-in for someone else's first love?

This was one issue Chen Yu did have to worry about a little. Thinking of how she'd pretended to be a frivolous woman of loose morals to deceive the powerful men beneath her, Chen Yu wished she could go back in time and slap herself.

But still, where was this supposed first love? Aren't you the one and only first love?

Main couple: A clear-headed, rational emperor with a strong sense of ambition who knows how to flirt with her partner x a quiet, taciturn imperial guard captain with maximum initiative and a hopeless romantic's heart

An unconventional gender-bender romance. Occasional love-triangle drama.

Warnings:

1. The female lead is genuinely not a good person. She doesn't care about being chaste, and her sense of boundaries is poor, but she'll grow. I can't say more without spoilers.

2. This is a completely fictional setting, unrelated to any historical dynasty, and the world isn't based on female superiority and male subservience.

3. Although the female lead loves one person from beginning to end, the early story has a mountain of melodrama.

4. Well... there may be some harem-protagonist vibes. This is a somewhat self-indulgent work, and the female lead may seem like she'd have a lot of girlfriends, though in reality she doesn't. If this isn't your thing, please leave quickly. The author is already on her knees in apology. Orz

Premise: Books help people grow