Cataclysmic start
Li Wei felt that she had probably died suddenly.
The last thing I remember is the blinding white light from the laptop in front of me, and the densely packed, never-ending PowerPoint presentations on the screen.
She has been working overtime for 72 consecutive hours, all for that damned launch plan.
The agonizing pain of sudden cardiac arrest still seemed to echo in my chest.
When I opened my eyes again, what I saw was neither heaven nor hell, but a few crooked wooden rafters that smelled of age and mildew.
Beneath her was a hard, uncomfortable wooden plank bed, and the coarse cloth quilt covering her, which smelled of soap, made her feel itchy all over.
She sat up abruptly.
Looking around, it was an extremely small, bare room.
There was no ancient Buddha or lamp, but the small, indistinct clay Buddha statue in the corner and the faint scent of incense in the air clearly pointed to one place—a temple.
It's not an ICU, and it's not a morgue.
"Where...is this?" Her throat was dry, and her voice was terribly hoarse.
The next second, a flood of complex memories, not belonging to her, surged into her mind like a tsunami, almost causing her to faint again.
In the twenty-third year of the Zhenguan era… the late Emperor Taizong passed away… the concubines who had no children… were sent to Ganye Temple to become nuns according to regulations… Wu Zetian…
Wu Zetian?!
The only female emperor in Chinese history?!
Li Wei, a miserable office worker in the 21st century, transmigrates into the body of... the future Empress Wu Zetian, who has just been thrown into Ganye Temple and whose future is bleak.
She scrambled to the only blurry bronze mirror in the room.
A face was reflected in the mirror. The person was about sixteen or seventeen years old. The eyebrows and eyes were like a painting, and the skin was as white as snow. Even though the person was dressed in coarse black clothes and did not wear any makeup, it was still hard to hide their stunning beauty.
It's beautiful, truly beautiful.
But Li Wei was not happy at all.
Because she knew perfectly well that, according to the historical script, this stunning beauty would soon spend years here in seclusion, wasting her youth, until that man—the future Emperor Gaozong of Tang, Li Zhi—came to offer incense, and she would be able to seize the opportunity to stage a tragic love story and return to the palace.
Returning to the palace was just the beginning of a new and even more brutal power struggle.
From Zhaoyi to Empress, from Empress to Heavenly Empress, and finally to overthrow the Tang Dynasty and proclaim himself Emperor... every step of this journey was fraught with countless thorns, schemes, and bloodshed.
Looking at her face in the mirror, Li Wei slapped her head in frustration—the texture was thick and smooth to the touch; oh, she hadn't shaved her head yet, her hair was full of worries.
"Damn it! My boss is already manipulating me, making me work overtime every day by promising me nothing! Now that I've traveled through history, he's still manipulating me? Promising me an empress?"
She roared silently at the roof, "From a nun at Ganye Temple to an empress, this hellish KPI is harder than a company going public! Do you want this good fortune?!"
She, Li Wei, experienced countless trials and tribulations in her past life, ultimately meeting a sudden and tragic end.
In this life, she vowed never to get involved again!
What empress? Let whoever wants to be one be one!
Her goal was very clear and simple: to cling to the coattails of the future emperor Li Zhi, become a senior manager (preferably a favored concubine), enjoy top-notch benefits, achieve financial freedom as soon as possible, and then retire early to live a carefree life in the Tang Dynasty!
Palace intrigue? That's low-level competition! She's aiming for the upper echelons—corporate management!
After clearing her mind, Li Wei—no, now she was Wu Zetian—quickly calmed down.
She began to use her experience in project management from her previous life to analyze the current situation.
SWOT analysis:
Advantages:
1. Known historical scenarios (maximum cheat codes);
2. Good looks (original capital);
3. Possessing knowledge and management thinking that are ahead of their time (core competency).
Disadvantages:
1. Her current identity is that of a former convict, a lowly nun;
2. Isolated and helpless, penniless and powerless;
3. When will Li Zhi arrive? Uncertain.
Chance:
1. Li Zhi was young, kind-hearted, and easily influenced;
2. Empress Wang and Consort Xiao are locked in a fierce power struggle; one can take advantage of the chaos.
3. The Guanlong Group had become too powerful to control, and Li Zhi urgently needed his own people.
threaten:
1. He may die of old age at Ganye Temple;
2. He was killed beforehand by those two in the palace;
3. Li Zhi forgot about her.
After analysis, the action plan became clear:
First, survive and maintain your good looks.
Second, gather information and determine the time of Li Zhi's visit.
Third, prepare your "interview materials" to ensure a successful interview.
In the days that followed, Wu Zetian acted even more detached than a real nun.
She worked quietly and kept a low profile, while also using some basic herbal knowledge to improve the food and hygiene conditions, ensuring that her "ticket" wouldn't fail her at crucial moments.
Meanwhile, using her essential "pleasing the client" skills, she quickly extracted useful information from some older nuns—the new emperor, Li Zhi, would come to Ganye Temple on the first day of next month to pray for the late emperor.
The timing was perfect.
A crucial historical juncture has arrived.
---
On the first day of the lunar month, Ganye Temple was under strict security, and all unauthorized personnel had been cleared out.
Wu Zetian was assigned to sweep and clean the backyard, a position where she could catch a glimpse of the imperial carriage from afar, yet remain unnoticed.
But how could she possibly let this opportunity slip by?
When the young emperor, dressed in a bright yellow robe, with a handsome face but bearing a hint of melancholy and weariness, walked heavily toward the meditation room under the abbot's guidance, Wu Zetian knew that the drama had begun.
According to the original plot, she should have appeared at an opportune moment, with tears streaming down her face, in a corner along Li Zhi's inevitable route, and recited a poem in a mournful and poignant manner to evoke his pity.
But she didn't.
She directly blocked Li Zhi's entourage, carrying... well, a "demonstration board" covered with squares, shapes, and strange symbols drawn on coarse cloth with stove charcoal.
"Protect the Emperor!" The eunuch's shrill voice rang out, and the guards instantly drew their swords.
Startled, Li Zhi looked up and saw a nun dressed in a gray black robe. Although her clothes were simple, they could not hide her exceptionally beautiful appearance.
There were no tears or sorrow on her face as he had expected, only a calmness and focus that he had never seen on a woman's face before.
"Who are you? How dare you disturb His Majesty's presence!" the head guard shouted sternly.
Wu Zetian took a deep breath, calmed her wildly beating heart, and tried her best to look like a project manager giving an end-of-year performance review.
Ignoring the gleaming swords, she bowed deeply to Li Zhi, her voice clear and steady: "This humble nun, Wu Mei, pays her respects to Your Majesty. I risked my life to stop Your Majesty, only to offer you a strategy for securing the country and stabilizing the nation."
Everyone was stunned. A nun, wanting to discuss state affairs with the emperor? It was utterly ridiculous!
Li Zhi frowned; he recognized her.
It was Lady Wu, the talented woman he had met once at his father's sickbed.
A complex mix of emotions swept through him, including pity and a hint of displeasure at being offended.
But being kind-hearted by nature, he did not immediately lash out, but simply said, "You are just a woman, living in a temple for so long, how could you understand the affairs of the court?"
"Your Majesty," Wu Meiniang raised her head, looking directly at Li Zhi without the slightest fear, "This humble nun, being an outsider, is able to observe with detachment. Your Majesty has been on the throne for some time now, do you know why your decrees are sometimes not implemented effectively? Do you know why you always feel hampered?"
These words, like a needle, pierced precisely into Li Zhi's heart.
He inherited his father's prosperous reign, but he also inherited a group of powerful ministers left by his father, especially the Guanlong Group led by his uncle Changsun Wuji, which almost controlled the government, making it difficult for him to act as emperor.
His expression changed slightly, and he waved for the guards to step back a little. "What do you mean by that?"
Wu Zetian knew that the fish had taken the bait.
She immediately unfolded the "rough cloth PPT" in her hand. Although it was ridiculously simple, the tree diagram and relationship network drawn with charcoal sticks on it were clear at a glance.
"Your Majesty, please look, this is a 'Diagram of the Power Structure and Interest Transfer of the Guanlong Group.'" She pointed to the diagram on the cloth and began to speak eloquently, "The Changsun faction, through marriage alliances and the cultivation of protégés and former officials, has become deeply entrenched and controls key positions in the three ministries of the Secretariat, the Chancellery, and the Ministry of Personnel, forming a community of shared interests. If Your Majesty's decrees touch upon their interests, they will inevitably encounter soft resistance. This is what is meant by the erosion of imperial power by the so-called 'decentralized power structure'..."
She used modern vocabulary, but combined with the graphics, Li Zhi actually understood about 70-80% of it!
The more he listened, the more alarmed he became. These predicaments that he had vaguely sensed but could not clearly articulate were so directly and systematically analyzed by a woman!
"...Therefore, if Your Majesty wishes to wield real power, it is not to directly clash with the ministers, but rather to introduce new balancing forces, such as supporting those from humble backgrounds, dividing their alliances, and establishing information and execution channels directly under Your Majesty to bypass their obstruction..."
Looking at the coarse cloth that resembled "ghostly scribbles," and then at the woman before him whose eyes shone brightly, whose words were logically sound, and whose aura was imposing, Li Zhi's shock had long since overshadowed his initial displeasure and pity.
This was no longer the delicate and charming Wu Cairen he remembered.
This is clearly a... a strategist with keen insight into the times and a strategic vision...?!
He interrupted her "report," his voice tinged with barely perceptible excitement: "Meiniang, this thing...this picture, is wonderful! How did you come up with it?"
Wu Zetian (inner monologue: Of course, this was copied from the essence of thousands of years of political management!), outwardly, however, respectfully lowered her head and uttered her carefully prepared "job application declaration":
“Your Majesty, this is none other than a career plan I have tailored specifically for you.”
A gentle breeze swept by, ruffling the stray hairs on her forehead and stirring the stagnant water in Li Zhi's heart.
The way he looked at her had completely changed.
From initially being amazed by her beauty, to being shocked by her courage, and now, filled with a reliance and burning passion as if discovering a treasure.
At this moment, the wheels of history were slightly shifted by a piece of modern "rough cloth PPT," a shift that was almost imperceptible but would lead to earth-shattering changes.
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