The Emperor's Strategy: The Queen Regent

For the man she loved, she fought on the battlefield for years in the guise of a woman, helping him ascend the throne. Then she shed her battle-worn armor and retreated to the palace to become his empress.

Years of devotion and support, a lifetime spent by his side, ended with her entire Meng clan wiped out. It turned out that everything had been part of a long-laid scheme in his heart.

Alone and wretched in the Cold Palace, she died a brutal death in its secluded depths. Her soul returned, and she was reborn, determined to topple his empire and avenge her family.

She is Meng Qinglan, the exalted empress of the Great Han Dynasty.

She is Chu Hongyan, the overlooked and unloved ninth princess of the Western Chu royal family.

What happens when she becomes the other? The empress is vicious, and her sisters are overbearing, but she deals with them all. As unrest begins to spread through Western Chu, she disguises herself and heads to war. Seeing the terrified faces of her former enemies, she gives a cool smile. “Go tell Changsun Ji: I’m back.”

Once she enters Great Han, she uses her delicate hands to steer events and expose the rot hidden beneath the empire’s calm waters. The strange mysteries lurking beneath its glittering surface will soon unleash a storm of bloodshed with her arrival.

The general who once killed her brother and dismembered his body crawls at her feet, covered in blood, his face twisted with resentment. “Why should the Meng family enjoy Great Han’s wealth and power, while my Fu family has to scavenge for what they leave behind?”

Her face is icy, her expression disdainful. “Because you’re not worthy!”

The Noble Consort, whose beauty captivated all of Great Han, is her sworn sister, the woman who killed her child and her greatest enemy. Evil deeds come back to haunt their doer. Everything she sought, loved, and cherished in this life, she will destroy, one thing at a time.

“Meng Qingqiu, you asked why. Do you understand the meaning of the word ‘retribution’?”

A lifetime spent adrift, a lifetime spent seeking revenge, all so she could ask the heartless emperor one question: “Changsun Ji, when you slaughtered my whole family and spared only me, you asked whether I was satisfied. Now I ask you: with your empire, your concubines, and your loved ones all gone, and only you left alive, are you satisfied?”

This road to revenge is so difficult. I know that, but I have to walk it!

And yet, meeting him again was something she never expected.

The Prince of Yong of the Northern Yan Dynasty:

A: “Don’t mess with him. You really don’t want to.”

B: “Terrible temper. Truly awful.”

C: “Such devotion. He really is devoted.”

When they first met in her previous life, he was a dashing young man, arrogant and untamed on the battlefield. After the danger had passed, he rode away, leaving only these clear, ringing words behind:

“Meng Qinglan, you treat me like a child, and I treat you like a fool. We’re damn well made for each other!”

Reborn, she carries countless plans in her heart and cuts a path through every obstacle in pursuit of revenge. He gives her care, gives her help, gives her everything he can. Then he travels thousands of miles, weathered by wind and frost, just to tell her one thing:

“Hongyan, if revenge really matters that much to you, so much that you’d abandon yourself and me, then go find him and kill that bastard. If you can’t take him down, I’ll help you.”