The Emperor's Strategy

Ten years ago, Jing Lan, the young heir of the Jing Kingdom, mysteriously disappeared and was captured. A decade later, Yun Zhan, the Jing Kingdom’s great general guarding the frontier, received an imperial order to search secretly across the neighboring kingdoms. At last he found Jing Lan, but while escorting him home, Yun Zhan was killed by pursuers on the Yellow River, leaving no body behind. To avenge her brother, the only family she had, Yun Qian’ge, the general’s younger sister, fought her way to victory in a tournament, claimed the Tiger Tally, and inherited the title of great general. Her first battle soon followed. But after returning home victorious, she had no idea that this battle was merely one move in a game someone had long since set in motion, a move meant to shatter the peace that cloaked the Nine Provinces. When layer after layer of mystery is peeled away, Yun Qian’ge finds something more terrifying than death awaiting her. A struggle for power and empire begins, with her at its center. She has no concern for good or evil; she only wants to protect the little warmth she holds dear. What does it matter if she kills, razes cities, or dyes the sands red? As long as she can hold on to that sliver of warmth, the world means nothing to her. He schemed against everyone in the world, but overlooked her alone. She was as clear and pure as water, yet she suddenly entered his game without warning, and found her way into his heart as well. Why, in a struggle for power between men, did she end up paying the price? When love cuts to the bone and love and hate leave no easy choice, she takes the most ruthless revenge to avenge her brother. With the Yellow River roaring behind her and a crazed, anguished howl at her back, she throws herself into its waters.