Looking Back

Gu Panzhi’s father was an obscure official in the capital.

Gu Panzhi herself was an unremarkable young noblewoman in the city of Dongjing.

Fortunately, she had no great ambitions and was quite content with her peaceful, easy life, until she was summoned to the palace at sixteen.

After more than ten years of cautious living, she took the reins of government at thirty.

She promoted agriculture and trade, encouraged technological innovation, and brought stability to the people.

She strengthened government at home, repelled foreign enemies, pursued practical knowledge, and expanded the borders.

Though corrupt old ministers, with all the decay of a setting sun, attacked her as a wicked consort who “abandoned ancestral traditions and championed strange inventions,” and a poisonous empress who “reversed the natural order and coveted the imperial throne,” the people still called her “the leader who revived the nation through innovation.”

She used firearms to blow apart the Northern Qi king’s tent, washing away the shame of decades of tribute.

Yet no one knew that the thing she had most wanted to destroy in her life was the phoenix crown.

What? I’ve become the retired emperor?!

What a shame my white moonlight died young. I’ve become a scholar of tragic romance, ten levels deep! This wretched, boundless loneliness!

A technology enthusiast changes the world.

Reading guide:

1. One-on-one romance at various stages

2. Political intrigue, old-school, slow burn, no golden finger. The early social setting and level of productivity are based on the Northern Song Dynasty. The story will then focus on developing technology and boosting productivity. This is an imaginative story about laying the material groundwork for a woman to become emperor in an ancient setting.

Theme: Always keep your fate in your own hands.