The Southern Qi Beauty Empress

This is the fifth book in the Astonishing Favorites series. The heroine is He Jingying, empress to Xiao Zhaoye, the third emperor of Southern Qi.

In Chinese history, He Jingying was not the only empress to have an affair, but she was the only one permitted to be unfaithful by her imperial husband and still cherished by him. Why were this emperor and empress so far ahead of their time, willingly practicing an open marriage, something that only began to appear in isolated cases in the West in the latter half of the twentieth century and remains rare even today? The reasons are truly worth exploring.

A closer analysis shows that He Jingying was nothing like the simple-minded woman in some modern web novels who cared only for sensual pleasures. On the contrary, she was perceptive and keenly understood men's psychology. Part of her refusal to remain chaste was surely a rebellious response to a patriarchal society. Under the system of one wife and many concubines of her time, it was also a rather clever way of coping. Readers will see this for themselves in the book...

The book also has plenty to say about Liu Chuyu, a figure many readers are eager to learn about. Liu Chuyu was He Jingying's stepmother. Why could He Jingying's father, He Ji, tolerate Liu Chuyu having thirty male companions? This book has an answer, too.

I'm sure that after reading this book, readers will understand why monogamy, despite its flaws, is practiced throughout the world today. Sometimes it takes rebellion to realize that tradition, though imperfect, has value. So please immerse yourself in He Jingying's unconventional journey!

Theme: A close examination of what it means to be faithful to one's spouse within the institution of marriage