Splendor Across the Frontier

Envoys from Mobei came to visit Yong. The emperor had no unmarried daughters of suitable age, yet he agreed to a marriage alliance. Where was he supposed to find a princess? In the wind and rain, someone knocked on the door of the Weining Marquis's residence. And so, when the legitimate daughter of the Weining Marquis died suddenly, the emperor found a lost pearl among the common folk: “Princess Zhaode.” “Father, why do you only take my brother to the training grounds? I want to go too!” “A Ning, you’re a girl. How can you go?” “Mother, why do only Second Sister and I have to learn embroidery? Why doesn’t my brother?” “A Ning, he’s a boy. How could he learn that?” Why could men do as they pleased, while “she” could not? Wang Yunning set out for Mobei, carrying all the poetry, knowledge, and ambition within her. Everyone said Mobei was bitterly cold, its people uncouth and barely civilized. Barely civilized? Perfect. Then I’ll be the one to civilize it. The title of queen didn’t quite sit right with her. What she wanted was for women to take up men’s roles, and for men to follow women’s virtues. Since women could do anything, then she would graciously accept the throne, too. After all, the emperor’s “king” was Wang Yunning’s “Wang”.