Winning Over the Empress

They say being a woman is hard, and being an empress is harder still. Hua Luo, the nineteenth princess of the Tianqi Kingdom, was destined for greatness from a young age. She was named crown prince at eight, took charge of the government at thirteen, and at sixteen launched a palace coup because her mother refused to relinquish power. But in the end, she had done all the work for someone else. Betrayed by her own elder sister, she was poisoned with a deadly toxin and left on the brink of death. Nine months later, when everyone thought she was dead, she was reborn from the ashes and struck a fatal blow against those who had betrayed her...

In the eyes of the people of Tianqi, she is the all-capable Crown Prince. To the ministers, she is a scheming politician. To the soldiers, she is a fearsome God of War. Yet almost no one remembers that the empress was once a young girl. All she ever wanted was to sit idly as flowers bloomed and faded, and watch the clouds drift by like an ordinary person.

When youth has passed and glory has faded, where will she find her final home?

[This book tells the story of the young Crown Prince Hua Luo's journey to becoming empress.]

(Not a matriarchal society, not a matriarchal society, not a matriarchal society. The country is gender-equal, and anyone capable can become emperor. A strong female lead, slow-paced, with a romantic focus but no male lead in the strict sense.)