Ever since I was little, I was determined to become the Head of the Six Palaces.
So I married the Crown Prince and fought for the position of Empress, until I was only one step away from my goal.
All I had to do was outlive the sickly Empress currently sitting in that seat.
Of course, aside from the Empress, I still had other rivals: Consort De, Zhaoyi Zeng, Jieyu Yao…
Diligently, I crushed dissent. Conscientiously, I built my own faction. Day and night, I colluded with officials at court. One after another, I brought down every consort in the harem who dared stand against me, until at last I became the most powerful woman in the world.
I was selfish, calculating, and vicious.
But on his deathbed, the Emperor held my hand and said gently, “All these years, you worked hard.”
