Contents
Chapter Thirty-Two: Despite their Best Efforts
Overview
Zetian secures Sima Yi’s tentative support to stage a Match Crowning, aiming to legitimize her team amid mounting scrutiny. Waiting in Yizhi’s chambers, she reflects on the gods’ aloofness and girls’ exploitation. Yizhi and Zetian define their relationship around trust and compatibility, choose intimacy, and Zetian vows to weaponize public judgment against her oppressors.
Summary
After proposing a Match Crowning to outshine rivals, Zetian calls Sima Yi and argues Central Command must allow it if they trust her team with the counterattack. Sima Yi agrees to try, giving Zetian hope that political doom may be easing.
While waiting in Yizhi’s expansive chambers, Zetian surveys his life and reflects on the aloof gods who accept tributes of spirit metal and even girls, yet offer no direct aid. She considers the irony of relying on Hundun husks and the pervasive devaluation of girls despite their systemic exploitation.
Yizhi returns, and after tender kisses he shares a fantasy of escaping together. Zetian grounds them in reality, voicing concern that her partnership with Li Shimin demands focus. Yizhi admits jealousy but reframes love as compatibility and trust rather than possession, easing Zetian’s fear of hurting him.
Choosing each other in the moment, they become intimate. As Zetian overcomes internalized shame, she resolves to repurpose society’s outrage—her image, decadence, and “perfect partnership” narrative—as tools. She commits to making others’ judgment fuel her power, reinforcing her determination to seize control of the narrative and the Match Crowning.
Who Appears
- Wu ZetianProposes the Match Crowning, reflects on gods and exploitation, deepens bond with Yizhi, rejects shame, and vows to weaponize public judgment.
- Gao YizhiWelcomes Zetian, articulates love as compatibility and trust, sets aside jealousy, and chooses intimacy with her.
- Sima YiHears Zetian’s case for a Match Crowning and promises to push Central Command to allow it.