As a child, Zhou Mingyi dreamed of becoming a swordswoman who roamed the world. She had no plans to rid the world of evil; life surrounded by luxury was simply too dull, while the jianghu in the storybooks seemed mysterious and irresistible.
But the sword in her hand would not be pointed at the jianghu. Instead, it would be aimed at the mother who had sat upon the throne and cherished her for decades.
Zhou Mingyi had asked herself: If she took this step, the tenderness between mother and daughter and the easy, comfortable days of the past would be gone forever. Could she truly accept the consequences?
But she watched as Great Zhou, like the sun high at noon, gradually sank toward the horizon. The people were displaced and starving, while the court, within and without, reveled in song and dance amid wealth and splendor. Her mother on the throne could not see it. Her brothers, kept firmly under their mother's thumb, spent every day looking after their own hides, too cautious and preoccupied even to care for themselves.
So Zhou Mingyi thought: she alone could raise this sword...
Theme: Ambition is a virtue, especially for women
