The Golden Palace in Turmoil

In her previous life, Lan Xi was a model empress.

She devoted her entire clan to helping an ambitious prince seize the throne, then spent her whole life managing his household. Once every last bit of value had been wrung from her, the emperor held his tender, delicate true love in his arms, threw Lan Xi into the Cold Palace, wiped out the Lan clan root and branch, and ordered the entire family executed.

Even her death was fit for an empress.

In the twelfth month, amid heavy snow, her mutilated corpse and severed hands were tossed into a mass grave, where wild dogs devoured them.

Reborn, she took the sharp sword hidden beneath her pillow into her own hands.

As the eldest legitimate daughter of the century-old noble Lan clan, the most refined and breathtaking beauty in the land, and a woman with power and riches within her grasp, why should she tie her love and life to a man?

Sword in hand, she strode into the throne hall, cutting down the worthless man, then the vile woman.

She would seize the throne, ascend the phoenix dais, protect the Lan clan, and claim glory.

What did being empress, mother to all under heaven, matter?

She would be the Empress Dowager for all time, a model for every woman, and a woman of virtue whose name would be remembered for generations, forging a splendid age of peace and prosperity.

As for the men who kept throwing themselves at her...

Don't stand in my way.

As for that crowd who kept clinging to her...