The Tale of the Burning Moon

Strong, clever heroine x gentle but obsessive younger brother x aloof, devoted older brother

-One woman, multiple men / Brothers competing for the same wife / Heroine's career-focused story with a romance-driven plot

Blurb:

On the night Dugu Fenyue was born, the moon instantly turned blood-red, as if consumed by flames.

The Imperial Astronomical Bureau prophesied: "This girl may bring the Great Liang to glory, or bring it to ruin."

Burdened with the prophecy of "prosperity or destruction," Fenyue became a target for everyone from childhood.

She had never been one to submit to fate, and swore she would carve out her own path.

On the day she came of age, someone poisoned her and pushed her into a pond. In the depths of despair, a warm embrace saved her cold, shivering body. It was also the start of a lifetime of mistakes.

On a rainy night when she was eighteen, her family threw her into a mass grave.

Quicksand gradually swallowed her mouth and nose. On the brink of life and death, she refused to give in, clawed through the heavy earth, and fought her way out.

Through the rain and mist, her beloved came galloping toward her on horseback. They rode away together on one horse, hands clasped, pledging themselves to a shared future.

Even though Zhong Yunxiao was a prince and she came from an unremarkable family, they still dreamed of spending their lives together.

But on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, the emperor decreed that she marry someone else.

That person was none other than Zhong Yunxiao's third brother, Zhong Yunchi.

From then on, she and her beloved were destined to become strangers.

On their wedding night, she cried all night, while Zhong Yunchi stood in the corridor all night.

Fenyue thought she despised the Third Prince more than anyone.

But she didn't know that this mistaken marriage was one he had plotted and pursued with all his might.

Even though Fenyue loved his younger brother, Zhong Yunchi would stop at nothing to keep her by his side.

He begged for Fenyue's love and believed that one day she would love him.

After all, the person she had embraced when she fell into the water all those years ago...

was never Zhong Yunxiao.

The imperial throne changed hands, and the brothers turned against one another. Zhong Yunchi rose to power by stepping over his brothers' corpses and became emperor.

In just five years, he reclaimed Southern Chu and resolved a grave threat that had plagued generations of emperors, earning a place in history.

His younger brother Zhong Yunxiao served as the commander-in-chief of that campaign.

At the victory banquet, Zhong Yunchi noticed that his brother's gaze had barely left his wife. A cold glint flashed in his eyes. He raised his cup and said calmly,

"Fifth Brother, Miss Shen, the daughter of the Prince of Dingbei, has admired you for a long time. You're well matched in age, so I'll grant you this good match today."

As he spoke, he took his wife's hand, his expression gentle.

"What do you think, Yue'er?"

Fenyue was soothing the child in her arms. At his words, her heart sank, but she forced a smile.

"Fifth Brother has been away fighting for our country for a long time. He should settle down and start a family. I'll leave this to His Majesty."

She was now the empress, and her son was the crown prince... For the sake of her family and child, she could no longer cling to the past. She had to let go.

Zhong Yunxiao looked at their clasped hands, sorrow in his eyes, then rose with his cup.

"Elder Brother, Sister-in-law, I already have someone in mind. I swear I will marry no one else in this life."

As he spoke, he forgot the rules of propriety and looked only at Fenyue.

Though they could never be husband and wife in this life, in his heart, Fenyue was his one and only wife.

Before Zhong Yunchi died, he clutched her hand and asked if she had ever loved him.

Dugu Fenyue didn't know how to answer.

It was true that she and His Majesty had been deeply devoted to each other as husband and wife.

But she had given her heart to someone else twenty years ago.

The emperor died, and the new emperor ascended the throne.

Fenyue walked through the cold, perilous Fengtian Hall, escorting her thirteen-year-old son step by step to the highest seat of power.

She took her place at his right hand and became the empress dowager, ruling from behind the curtain.

At the head of the court stood General Zhong Yunxiao, who commanded a massive army.

In the blink of an eye, they had been entangled for nearly twenty years. The spirited youth of the past had become a powerful minister who could cover the sky with one hand.

He had grown a middle-aged man's beard. His presence was imposing, his manner cool and solitary, and the years had made him even more composed.

To protect the new emperor, Fenyue had no choice but to silently allow him to press closer, though she still refused to truly give herself to him.

Zhong Yunxiao was no longer the gentle gentleman he had once been, or perhaps he had never been one at all.

He stood beneath the corridor with an umbrella, brushing the snow and frost from her clothes. His expression remained tender.

"Yue'er, we've been apart for far too long. I want to make it up to you."

"Let's... get married."

Reading Guide:

1. The story of a heroine who assists three generations of emperors before claiming the throne for herself. A serious, romance-focused historical drama.

👑 Fenyue's rise: court lady -> prince's consort -> empress -> empress dowager -> grand empress dowager -> empress in her own right.

2. Both male leads are sexually and emotionally devoted to the heroine alone from beginning to end, but she has more men in her life than just the brothers.

3. This isn't a traditional one-woman-multiple-men story. Men of all kinds pass through her life, but real power is what makes her feel safest.

4. The heroine starts out as a court lady serving the old emperor. He is fond of her but never brings her into the harem. After she gains power, she also has devoted lovers who are completely lovestruck by her.

P.S. For now, I can only write romance-focused blurbs. After I get better, I'll try a plot-focused one.

Theme: The divine maiden is unharmed. The world will be astonished by the changes.