The Phoenix Returns to the Wilderness: Plotting to Become Empress

Helan Ying was kidnapped by Liang soldiers at the age of nine and spent eleven years enduring life in an enemy kingdom.

When she returned home, her father had founded a kingdom and declared himself emperor, but no one in the palace recognized her.

With no maternal relatives to rely on and no favor from her imperial father,

she fights for her rightful place, for the interests of the poor, and for a way forward for women everywhere.

Her four younger brothers each have their own designs, the inner palace seethes with intrigue, and every step at court is a calculation.

She knows all too well that blood ties and family affection count for nothing when interests are at stake.

So she will become empress herself.

The phoenix returning from the wilderness will set an example for women of later generations across this land.

[No romance | Strong female lead and political intrigue | Slow-burn plot]