Auspicious Omens at the Door [The Empress's Rebellion]

- "The empress murders the emperor and seizes power"

Zhu Fan was born extraordinarily gifted. She had read the classics by the age of four and studied both civil and military arts under her grandfather from the age of six. She was a prodigy.

But Zhu Fan had little ambition from childhood. For one thing, women in official families could not hold office in this dynasty. For another, if you could do everything well with ease, it was only natural to lose interest in it.

To the outside world, she was merely the eldest legitimate daughter of a marquis, lovely and refined, gentle in temperament, and a celebrated young lady of the capital, skilled in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting.

The year after coming of age, Zhu Fan married the crown prince. The year after that, he ascended the throne.

Everyone said their marriage was a match made in heaven. Only Zhu Fan knew that the crown prince, Zhou Chenhong, already had someone else in his heart. He had taken her as his principal consort only to win her family's support.

The emperor treated her with courtesy, but after taking the throne, he almost never visited her palace again.

Zhu Fan was glad of the peace and quiet. With no one fighting for power in her palace, she had no need to compete for his favor. She amused herself each day and lived quite comfortably.

One day, Zhu Fan was admiring flowers in the Flowing Water Pavilion in the imperial garden when she caught sight of an unfamiliar man passing outside, beyond the strange rocks and artificial hills. She called out to the palace attendant showing him the way.

When the man stopped and bowed, he stood as still as a snow-covered pine. His skin was fair, his features finely formed, and he had an air of unmatched elegance and nobility.

He kept his eyes lowered and never once looked directly at her.

Yet Zhu Fan could not take her eyes off his face.

Even after he left, Zhu Fan watched him until his crimson court robe disappeared beneath the overlapping shadows of the flowers.

As a maid fanned her, Zhu Fan gently pressed her jade-green-painted fingers against the maid's wrist. "Who was that man who just passed by?"

"Your Majesty, that was Lord Zhang, the Court Gentleman."

The new top scholar, who had placed first in all three imperial examinations in the fourth year of the Chengjia era, came from a poor family with no connections or property. He was now a favorite of the emperor.

Zhang Huaixu.

Whenever the emperor summoned him to discuss state affairs, Zhang Huaixu always passed through the imperial garden and by the Flowing Water Pavilion.

Once she found out, Zhu Fan began waiting there every time, until one day she got the chance to meet his eyes.

That single glance was enough to convince her: she wanted this man.

But she was the emperor's consort, the empress and mother of the realm.

A subject who took the emperor's wife had always been guilty of a crime punishable by the execution of his entire family.

As Zhu Fan stroked a hibiscus in the imperial garden, she thought, it was time to pull Zhou Chenhong down from the throne.

[Empress x Minister]

[Peony x Cymbidium]

○ The heroine will eliminate the emperor, install her young son on the throne, and rule as regent empress dowager.

○ Fictional setting, no need for historical accuracy.

○ The heroine finds the emperor filthy. She always uses a special fragrance in her rooms and on her clothes, and whenever he gets near her, he becomes impotent.

○ A beautiful, ambitious, wicked woman who always puts her own interests first and stops at nothing to get what she wants.

Theme: Women should be self-reliant.