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In the twentieth year of the Qianyuan era, the Zhou dynasty was in decline. The emperor was incompetent and tyrannical, and the people suffered amid domestic turmoil and foreign threats.
Rebel armies across the land rose up and stormed Shengjing. Prince Jing, Xiao Jichen, was ordered to lead troops to defend the emperor.
Half a year later, the emperor died and Prince Jing ascended the throne. To avoid the taboo of his former name, he changed it to Xiao Yin, established the Qi dynasty, and took the reign title Mingchong.
To stabilize the court and bring peace to the officials, in the second lunar month of the following year, Xiao Yin made Xie Zhao, the orphaned princess of the Zhou dynasty, Empress.
For a long time, Xiao Yin paid little attention to Xie Zhao, until he discovered that this empress, who seemed cautious and timid to outsiders, appeared to be hiding a considerable secret.
Xie Zhao's birth mother died young, and his adoptive mother was imprisoned and died after losing a power struggle. From the age of seven, he grew up locked away in the cold palace, like an abandoned dog.
He remembered the chilling clamor of the rebel army as it stormed the imperial city. He also remembered the long sword, its hilt buried in his father's chest, which he had seen from behind a curtain. By the time he received the edict naming him empress, an unprecedented terror had completely engulfed him.
Before the age of seventeen, he lived on a knife's edge in the harem as a princess of the Zhou dynasty. After seventeen, he still lived on a knife's edge as empress of the Qi dynasty.
It seemed Xie Zhao had never been able to control his own fate.
Reading Guide:
1. A beautiful male protagonist who is pursued. He disguises himself as a woman in the early chapters and becomes emperor later, but he is not a traditionally strong, dominant protagonist.
2. A sudden flash of inspiration. The premise and blurb may change by the time the story begins.
3. Marriage before love. Probably not angsty.
Moral: What you actually obtain is what matters most.
