The Princess

The Princess is a long historical romance novel by Fu Hanzi (who later wrote under the name Chen Yan), published by Zhuhai Press in 2009 and shortlisted as a dark-horse contender in the second Jiujie Literature Competition. The story is set in a fictional ancient world of contending feudal states: the mighty Dahuang Kingdom, dominating the north bank of the Yellow River, is strong in arms and prosperous, and constantly raids its neighbors' borders. To maintain diplomatic ties, Crown Prince Qiu Shiheng of the Yinkui Kingdom is sent to the Yuchi Kingdom as a hostage; living under another's roof, he harbors resentment and uses a pretext to expel his trusted aide Liu Huai from his chambers. In his despondency Liu Huai encounters Princess Yu Yan of Yuchi, and the two fall quietly in love. Three years later, Qiu Shiheng suddenly dies in the Yuchi palace at only eighteen, a sacrifice in his homeland's court intrigues; Liu Huai narrowly escapes with his life, flees to the Moqiu Kingdom, and is taken in by its crown prince Xiao Shuo. That same year Dahuang marches south, Yuchi's armies collapse, and Princess Yu Yan is reduced to slavery, enduring in silence on enemy soil, nursing her resolve for many years until she finally kills Emperor Taihe of Dahuang and rebuilds Yuchi, becoming its ruler. Three years later, Liu Huai, who has come to request troops for Moqiu, is reunited with Yu Yan: the former lovers are now an enemy general and a restoration queen, their loyalties to state and heart at odds. Told through dual narrative lines, the novel portrays a fallen princess's transformation as she climbs step by step to the pinnacle of power amid chaos, and the love between men and women that cannot be fully reconciled in a time of war.