Zhao Rou was a noblewoman from Bianjing. Her father was the Military Commissioner of Hedong, and her mother was the eldest princess of Northern Zhou. Everyone in her family had said since she was little that she would one day marry her cousin, the Crown Prince.
But overnight, her family was destroyed. Her father and brothers were murdered, her mother took her own life, and her uncle the emperor sent her to Tujue as a princess bride to secure peace.
Worse still, the imperial clansman she married already had a first wife. Though they were both formally wives, everyone in the Prince Jun's household called her the "Secondary Princess Consort."
The First Princess Consort had children of both sexes and had grown up with Zhao Rou's husband. Zhao Rou was nothing but an outsider.
After being insulted by the First Princess Consort yet again, Zhao Rou could take no more. She took her younger male cousin and a male servant, disguised them as women, and smuggled them into the residence. She chopped off the Prince Jun's head and tossed it in front of the First Princess Consort, then burned the entire residence to the ground.
After it was all over, she burst into tears and clutched her cousin's hand. "Was I too cruel?"
Her cousin told her firmly, "The people of Tujue kill our people, violate our women, and massacre our cities. All of Great Zhou longs to rise up against them, drink their blood, and sleep on their skins! What the Princess has done is an act of righteous patriotism. The people of Great Zhou who have passed on would surely be proud!"
Zhao Rou thought that made perfect sense. So I really am a national hero.
But she still wanted to cry. She took her tutor's hand and asked, "But I killed my husband. Does that count as violating the Three Obediences and Four Virtues?"
Her tutor comforted her warmly. "The Prince Jun died of excessive drinking, and the dry weather caused a fire in the residence. What does any of that have to do with the Princess?"
"Besides, the sovereign comes first, the father second, and the husband last. Great Zhou and Tujue are constantly at war, and your father fought Tujue several times during his life. Even if you did kill the Prince Jun, you were being loyal to your sovereign and your father. There is nothing to criticize."
Zhao Rou thought that made perfect sense. Ancient society was patriarchal, not husband-led, after all. So she smiled.
Her cheap husband was dead, and he had left her cities, people, troops, provisions, and weapons in abundance. In an age when "the one with the strongest army becomes emperor," Zhao Rou was very grateful to this angel investor. From time to time, she even burned him some joss paper.
The path ahead was clear: first reclaim her father's Hedong, then control Northern Zhou by using the emperor to command the regional lords. After that, she would march south to destroy the Southern Tang, Wuyue, and the other states, unify the realm, and then deal with Tujue and the other steppe peoples.
The Old Book of Jin praised her civil governance and military accomplishments as a founding emperor, while the New Book of Jin called her cold-hearted and ungrateful, and accused her of indiscriminately killing meritorious officials.
No one questioned one thing: in that age, she ranked first in military ability.
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Purely fictional ancient setting, modeled on the Tang dynasty
Theme: Unifying the realm
