A Doctor's Splendid Favor

The History of Jin records: Empress Shengmu Cheng, wife of the Great Ancestor, was virtuous and beautiful. Gentle and mild as a girl, wise and worthy as a woman, she never grew arrogant in high station, and her humility only made her shine brighter. She stood by the emperor through peril and hardship, sharing his joys and sorrows for ten years, never apart from him day or night. She was a woman who could wield arms to defend the realm and govern the world with her wisdom, never yielding to any man... Cheng Jin flipped through the pages with her slender fingers, raised an eyebrow, then scoffed through her nose. Unofficial histories record: Empress Cheng, wife of the Great Ancestor, was a daughter of the Medicine King Valley. She had no virtue or feminine grace, and was in truth a seductress like Daji and Baosi, a calamity for the emperor. Her hands were stained with the blood of the realm, her sword pointed at the world. She sowed chaos, sparking slaughter as the Three Kingdoms fought over her; she incited war, splitting the peace as princes and lords coveted her... She was wholly unfit to be the mother of the realm. Cheng Jin was furious. “What utter nonsense! I’m an outstanding forensic pathologist and doctoral graduate from the 21st century, a successor of the Medicine King Valley and born into a family of generals. My mother is renowned throughout the land, and my father is famous for his might. I’m rich and powerful, beautiful and talented, virtuous and clever. I can secure the realm, bring peace to the world, create prosperity, and restore a golden age... Sigh, the ancients truly never understood me...” The man beside her plucked the reprinted folk booklet from the woman’s bristling hands and casually tossed it into the waters of Autumn Wave Lake. His voice was as gentle as intoxicating autumn wine as he soothed the angry little cat. “Don’t be upset, darling. I’ll have the author executed and ban every last one of these scraps of paper!” Cheng Jin shot him a sidelong glare. “...In my next life, I’ll be an empress again, but you can be the tyrant!” “...” [This is really the story of a self-proclaimed brilliant doctoral graduate and forensic pathologist, and a truly brilliant and peerlessly handsome, aloof and secretly flirtatious man, falling in love as they conquer each other and wage war across the realm.] [Such Deep Devotion] Before I met her, I was not afraid of death, I did not fear distant journeys, and I never worried about the long years ahead. Now, though, I have never thought so earnestly about the future. The realm is so breathtakingly beautiful, it has drawn countless heroes to compete for its crown. The realm is so breathtakingly beautiful, but I bow only to you. Even if longing eats away at me and life and death divide us, even if heaven and earth should change places, my heart will never waver. Only when all that remains is yellow sand and white bones will I stop guarding her peace and happiness.