Catkins Drift Across the Sky

Her name was Yuwen Man, the first woman in this world to don the imperial robes.

Wars raged year after year, devastating vast swaths of land and leaving countless people homeless. It was only after the late emperor, Yuwen Ge, unified the Central Plains and rebuilt the Great Xia, that peace finally returned to the realm.

Yuwen Man did not want to be emperor. She was only a princess living behind the walls of her secluded chambers, a girl just beginning to fall in love and waiting for her beloved to come marry her. But just as her wedding day was finally set, her father, Emperor Yuwen Ge, suddenly passed away. Worse, without warning, he placed the imperial robes upon her shoulders. Hadn't he promised to pass the throne to the younger brother she was about to give birth to? Yuwen Man was full of questions, but her father could no longer speak to give her any answers.

She watched helplessly as Chancellor Mo Yunxun and two other regents schemed against one another, until she herself became the victor's puppet: the puppet of Chancellor Mo Yunxun.

Now, darkness has once again descended upon the land.

In the face of natural and man-made disasters, everyone complained, their whispers turning into public outcry. People believed that if the late emperor, Yuwen Ge, had not disregarded the people of the realm and passed the throne to his daughter, Yuwen Man, the land would not be in turmoil. They said the disasters Heaven sent down upon the world were all because a woman sat upon the Dragon Throne…