Live-Streaming to Emperor Wu: I've Become the Second Empress

My new novel, "When Li Shimin Becomes Emperor Wu of Han’s Crown Prince," is now available. Please add it to your reading list! Li Yunle transmigrated into the past and became Wu Zetian’s granddaughter and Li Xian’s daughter: Princess Anle. The good news was that her father would become emperor one day, and she herself would become a princess with power over the court. Her father had even considered naming her Crown Princess. The bad news was that her family would have to live under Empress Wu’s iron rule, and later die in a coup launched by Li Longji. She would also be branded as the one who poisoned her father. Thinking of the spectacular bloodshed of the Xuanwu Gate Incident, and of Li Longji, who was brilliant at first but became a tyrant, Li Yunle decided that she would be a fool not to fight for the throne. Besides, she had a nation-building System. It was as if Heaven itself wanted her to seize power. So Li Yunle secretly recruited craftsmen, developed agriculture, and built up her strength as she waited for her chance to take the throne. At last, after she had finally made it back to Luoyang, she was just one step away from Li Xian’s ascension when a sky screen appeared at the palace banquet. [According to the information currently available, the coup that forced Empress Wu to abdicate was supposedly led by Zhang Jianzhi and others. In truth, however, it was secretly set in motion by Li Yunle, our second empress, who was then still the Princess of Anle!] Li Yunle kept a calm expression, though she was panicking inside. Damn Heaven, if you want me dead, just say so! Just as Li Yunle thought her life was over, the sky screen began showering her with praise instead. [In my view, the most important measures of an emperor’s ability are the economy and people’s livelihood, along with expanding the empire. By the numbers, Emperor Anle ranks as the greatest ruler in history.] [She conducted numerous agricultural studies, multiplying crop yields and ensuring that the people had enough to eat, with no famine anywhere under Heaven!] [She restored the Tang army’s fighting spirit, reclaiming not only the territories lost since Emperor Gaozong’s final years, but pushing all the way to the westernmost edge of Eurasia!] [Emperor Anle ascended the throne as Crown Princess and made it standard for princesses to inherit the throne, giving them the same authority as princes. How did she manage it? Next, we’ll discuss her achievements in medicine, the Industrial Revolution, and more.] [She also loved literature, ushering in the most brilliant golden age of poetry in Chinese history. She was close friends with several poets, too. In our next episode, we’ll dig into the stories she shared with some of the greatest poets!] Li Yunle: Stop praising me, I’m cringing so hard my toes are curling! I only managed it because of my golden finger! And by directly revealing that I’m planning a rebellion, you’re going to get your eternal emperor killed. But just then, an imperial edict was issued. Empress Wu had directly named her Crown Princess! Empress Wu took her hand and said, “Would you be willing to join me in bringing about a golden age ahead of schedule and building an even better one?” Li Yunle: Huh? Why is it even easier for me to take the throne than the sky screen said it would be? 1. I’ll do my best to research the history, but I’m not a professional, so please don’t nitpick. Just treat this as an alternate-universe historical fantasy. 2. This story makes up for Empress Wu’s lack of a suitable successor and explores whether it could have been possible to institutionalize female succession at the time. 3. Empress Wu is a feudal emperor, and her flaws will be mentioned, but I absolutely don’t mean to disparage her, nor will I put her down just to praise the heroine. The heroine succeeds because the author gave her an overpowered golden finger. 4. The golden finger is powerful, or achieving all this would be too difficult. 5. In the sky screen’s timeline, the heroine inherits Li Xian’s throne, so the dynasty is called Tang. In this life, she inherits directly from Empress Wu, so the dynasty continues to be called Zhou. Theme: Finding a new way forward at a turning point in history