"You wanted absolute imperial power, so I will make your descendants live forever in the shadow of ministers and their powerful families. You wanted to expand your empire, so I will make your descendants live forever in the cage you built. You wanted to imprison me for my entire life, until death, so I will imprison your descendants for generations, one after another, without end."
(This is a side story to The Lost Pearl's Reverse Crossing, a neighboring novel. Complete.)
Blurb for The Lost Pearl's Reverse Crossing:
Lin Yan, founding empress of the Great Ning dynasty, was born poor and raised in the lowest social class. Three women across two generations in her family were all famous courtesans in the capital.
Lin Yan was a second-generation courtesan who could swagger through Pingkang Lane as she pleased.
Then her friend was brutally killed for "paying with her life for a dog." Lin Yan took possession of a memento from the leader of the reformist faction and wandered through the winter night. At dawn, she knocked on the Prime Minister Chu's residence and said, "Young Master, I'm willing to give up my status as a free woman and enter the lowest class."
Eight-year-old Lin Yan didn't know what that status meant. She only knew she wanted to become someone with power and influence, just like her mother.
The future Lord Lin would strike fear throughout the court, but she would never escape the label of "a family of courtesans." On another winter night, at dawn, Lin Yan told herself, "If society won't accept my lowly origins, then I'll seek shelter in an immortal legacy of great achievements."
The shame of our flight south remains unavenged.
The hatred of Zhanghua, when will it end?
"Young Master, I want to become empress." In the vast Archive Pavilion, Lin Yan smiled seductively and strode away with ease. "The tales of a thousand years of glory all end as words on a page. Let posterity judge my merits and my mistakes."
The young man who had treasured her since childhood had already become emperor. Watching the girl walk away with resolve, he let a tear fall onto the weathered railing
"An unspent lamp carries the spark of the stars. All my life, I shall be the gull that ferries you across."
Emperor Yuanwu, Lin Yan, was renowned for her civil and military achievements. Her commands were law on the battlefield, and she could turn the court upside down. Only with Chu Yi would Lin Yan act sweet, feel guilty, bang the table in anger, or sob and choke with hurt. Lin Yan was most grateful that Chu Yi had brought her into the world of power. The starving little beggar had been shown a whole new world.
Emperor Kangwen, Chu Yi, could ride out to drive back the northern invaders and return to restore order at court. He was noble and composed, never rattled by change. Only when he was with Lin Yan could she make him surrender, or cry until he was at a loss. Chu Yi's greatest regret was bringing Lin Yan into the world of power, where a thorny road awaited her. There was a light in Lin Yan's eyes, and Chu Yi dared not hold her too tightly, for fear of breaking her wings; nor could he let go, afraid she would return wounded with nowhere to turn.
A related novel about their ancestors and descendants, The Three Shadows' Gambit, next door (a little theatrical schemer who stirs up trouble with three secret identities). Please add it to your library (updates start around September 15):
A schemer and little drama queen with a stack of secret identities vs. a loyal young emperor of great ambition
The heir of the Songyuan Yun clan, Yun Fei, is frail and sickly. The young emperor dotes on her like a divine little cousin, afraid she'll break if he holds her too tightly or melt if he keeps her in his mouth.
Princess Yan Fei, sent to the capital as a hostage, is a schemer, the young emperor's beloved and hated rival, impossible to read and impossible to forget.
Shen Fei, the young master of the cabinet's archives, is a great merchant and the young emperor's dear friend and confidant.
Yan Fei and Xuan Ji: two top-level experts taking turns tearing into an amateur.
Yun Fei and Xuan Ji: I make myself jealous of myself.
Shen Fei and Xuan Ji: My true love turns out to be my rival in love.
The former emperor died young, the empress dowager's powerful relatives seized control, the great families were deeply entrenched, and the feudal lords waited like tigers for their chance.
At ten years old, a princess was ordered to enter the capital, help the puppet young emperor rule, and cultivate a "great emperor for the ages."
What wicked thoughts could a clever, cunning little princess possibly have? She's just too energetic and too smart, with three secret identities, equally leading every NPC around by the nose.
The young heir of the Yun clan who transmigrated into this generation is a genius in intelligence but a weakling in combat, the founder of the "if I can't die from it, I'll keep pushing it" school, and a troublemaking spectator who loves watching the world burn. Don't try to figure out how her mind works, because the young heir has no heart.
Theme: Take a step back, and the world opens up
