Discussion Reading Rebirth of a Malicious Empress

I'm up to chapter 65 of Malicious Empress, and it's been pretty good so far. This is the first new Romance novel I've read in a few years and this one feels quite different from the other ones I've read. The primary difference is the sheer lack of romance so far; I think that the main character, Shen Miao has had exactly one thought that can be interpreted as anything resembling romantic.

So what does she think about the rest of the time? Murder! And so far, that's precisely what's making this book worthwhile. Shen Miao sees half the people around her as enemies so she does the practical thing of figuring out how to kill them all. The book is a bit manipulative in making the antagonists hateable, but that sort of goes with the territory. What the book doesn't acknowledge is that Shen Miao's parents are idiots - who would let a young girl be ruled over by their enemies. Good read for anyone interested in plotting and scheming.

A few bonus observations: I've noted it before, but it's still refreshing to see that Chinese web novels can pass as regular novels. Other than the release schedule, the writing and the story elements are right up there with what you'd expect out of a printed book. Next, Chinese Romance novels are quite different from Western ones in that they have a lot of non-romance bits going for them. If I didn't already know that this was a Romance novel, I'd have classified it as a historical political intrigue.

 

Im glad you are enjoying it, the story its pretty different from other rebirth stories that I have read. Dont rule out the parents yet, further in the story more things come to light.

 

It basically is a political intrigue, in a lot of chinese novels like this romance is either very late or takes a back part

 

If You started Reading not Long ago T hen you made it in time =p.
Every ch is nice but the ones to come are in their clímax

 

If you like this story I think you'll love Chu wan fei.

 

I also love this novel, no op powers or skills just plain wits and guts.
I find the titel misleading and insulting towards to mc.
She is not malicious, since she acts in a sense for justice/ revenge for the wrongs/ injustice she and hers suffered/ will suffer.

 

We in the fan club on these kind of novels

The political games are strong, even her parents can't exactly see the lies from the truth which is why you have that thought that her parents are idiots for... leaving their daughter with the enemy? The parents don't even see them as enemies until Shen Miao reveal their evil nature.
All the lies of her past where her 'enemies' treat Shen Miao well. Making it seem to her parents that Shen Miao loves the 'enemy'. But it was simply a case of the enemy feeding their 'livestock' and takig care of it until they are fat and be killed to eat. ( thats how I see the other Furens in the house anyways and explains why they were nice to Shen Miao. )

 

I love this novel and it's in my top 3 together with Ze Tian Je and World of Cultivation.

 

Yeah, for Chinese Romance novels, I've only read Tong Hua so it's nice to see that other writers are like this as well. One thing that I've noticed is that the political intrigue in these Chinese novels doesn't have as many factions as you'd see in Western books but they have much more intricate plotting.

It'd be alright in any case - I read in Chinese so I don't have to wait for the translators. As long as the book is already finished, I'm set!

She's totally evil, and I wouldn't have it any other way! Yeah, Shen Miao has some sense of justice, but her main motivation is to destroy her enemies and to see them suffer. Think of it this way, righteous wuxia heroes would never act the way she does.

Translation note: the literal title is "Rebirth of the General's House Poisonous Empress". "Poisonous" doesn't necessarily mean "malicious" but I think that it's an inspired choice.

The head of the household in Shen Xin's absence is the grandmother, and it's no secret that she hates the main house. The 14-year old Shen Miao might be too dumb to realize this, but her parents and her brother shouldn't be.

 

Weeeellll T hey are an idiot couple when it comes to her daughter and SM relationship with the other 2 houses was extrematly *good* on her 1st life and Good Part of her 2nd life.
With her daughter defending T hem SM parents were totally fooled.
That and their absence in the household Ofc or T hey would have noticed T hings amiss

 

This actually looks very interesting. I wasn't expecting that. Adding it to my reading list~

 

"If someone tries to harm me, I'll destory their entire family!"

I'm pretty sure that most Romance novels would be improved if that phrase was their governing mantra! I'm now on Chapter 85 in the book, and it's still going strong. However, I need to amend the "Murder!" bit by adding "Mass Murder!" and "High Treason!" to the list. It's really refreshing to see a protagonist like Shen Miao unburdened with petty things like scruples or principles.

I especially like the dinner where most of the young ladies and matrons are talking about how people look, how they dress, men, and so on, while Shen Miao's counting up all the people in the room she wants dead! And since that includes the entire imperial family, it makes for a very different perspective indeed.

One fault that I do notice with this book is that it does not have the historical richness you'll find in a Yue Guan novel or the poetry you'll find in a Tong Hua novel. It seems as if Qianshan Chake is fully aware of her strengths and weaknesses so she set the story in an anonymous China and basically pointed out that poetry isn't going to play a role. I do wish that the setting would have a bit more flavor though.

I think that's a good example of how dumb they are. How can you be fooled for decade on end; especially when the grandmother has no sense of subtlety? They're a loving family, but they have muscles for brains.

It's a lot of fun! There's a part in the story where the main character devours one kind of book and while she tosses aside another kind of book. Why? Because one kind can help her with murder and the other can't!

 

I'm at chapter 65 and it's amazing. But it' also horrible and sad and i'm just so angry reading it.

Shen Miao is an awesome character. She's not OP, greatly talented or stunning neither she's smarter than everyone else. But she's got wisdom in her favor and it's making her pretty bad ass. I love her and i feel sorry for her at the same time.

Spoiler

How did you react with the shen miao/shen qing switch? I thought it was cruel but on the other hand Shen Qing wanted to ruin Shen Miao and she pretty much kill her in the ex-future... but nobody deserves this kind of thing.
But mostly i was freaking angry at the relatives. Blaming Shen Miao even if they had planned all of it but the switch. They can't even admit to themselves it's their fault. The Shen relatives are probably ones of the worst antagonists i've ever came across. They're evil, mean, ambitious and filled with petty jealousy it's disgusting. While reading i have to remember it's only fiction xD

If i love this one, will i like princess wei young?

 

Yes.

 

I enjoy this novel too.

 

A story with a badass lead that isn't OP and just uses her intelligence. That alone makes me happy.

 

There's a lot to pity about Shen Miao as Empress, but I don't feel any need to feel sorry for the ex-Empress in her 14-year-old body. Instead, I feel sorry for her enemies. Or at least I would if I didn't want to see them all die horribly.

In general, I don't think that the Second and Third households are particularly big stepping stones for Shen Miao. They're evil, but they're also petty enough that they're relatively easy to handle. The only reason they're much of a threat was because they could rule over the smallest aspects of Shen Miao's daily life. I've come across much more threatening and more evil villains before, and I'm sure that there will some of these in this very book.

As to the scene in question:

Spoiler

I thought that it was a fitting resolution; not in the karmic sense (although there's a bit of that as well), but in terms of what Shen Miao could do about the situation. The other aspect of it is that Madam Ren could have stopped the attack at any time. She could hear her daughter screaming for help - she just assumed that it was Shen Miao.

While their blaming Shen Miao for the whole thing isn't quite fair, it's not entirely unfair either because it was her plan.

I don't know if I've just been lucky, but I've been finding stories like this all the time. All the Yue Guan novels are like this, all the Tong Hua novels are like this, and even most Jin Yong novels are like this. I'd go so far as to say that clever protagonists are a staple of Chinese literature.

 

True that a lot of novels have clever protagonists, but I find myself enjoying malicious empress more than the others because it shows how much she actually went through, she isn't naturally smart or anything, she went through hell in her past life and now she is correcting everything.

I find Mei Gongqing somewhat similar to this story.

 

Not sure if this is a spoiler, I don't think it is since most readers should be able to see this coming but...

Spoiler: in response to the lack of romance...

Rebirth of a Malicious Empress from a Military Lineage is 100% a romance story. I suppose it does seem like the real romance comes late in this novel, but the main male lead has also been with us for awhile now... he's in all the book summaries... Don't worry my shoujo fans because XJX's appearances only increase.

This is so far the best Rebirth/Transmigration novel that I've ever read (with the exception of Kenkyo Kenjitsu but they're completely different genres >.>), even though I thought the ending was rather poorly done. I think this one is far better than Chu Wang Fei... sometimes Chu Wang Fei feels too ridiculous to me. Like how long was that damned birthday banquet and how many schemes did the villains try in one night... The villains in Malicious Empress can get pretty outlandish too, but I feel like they're less unbelievable...

I also dislike the title. I think the author is not very good at titles

I believe Rebirth of the Malicious Empress (重生之将门毒后) is the author's third novel. (Qian Shan Cha Ke 千山茶客) She's previously written two "rebirth" stories with very similar set ups - wronged noble daughter goes back in time and relives the opportunity to one up the evil people around her before they use her and ruin her life. They were basically practice runs for Malicious Empress though. According to people who've read all of her works, she improves with each work.

Her second novel is titled 重生之嫡女祸妃 which is something along the lines of "Rebirth of the First Daughter Fatally Beautiful Consort," and by "Fatally Beautiful ConsorT" it's like a beautiful but evil woman. In an interview the author said that she liked playing on this trope of the evil, calamitous beauty who ruined the empire (You guys know what I'm talking about - Yang Gui Fei, Xi Shi, Helen of Troy, etc etc), and so she titled the story this way, even though as readers we know that the main character was actually the biggest victim in the schemes of the actually evil and ambitious characters in the story... "Malicious Empress" is the same thing - like she was playing on the trope of "Evil Queen" but like, we all know why Shen Miao is so ruthless. She deserves to get her revenge. The evil characters also deserve everything coming to them... I never feel sorry for anyone...

 

This novel together with Chu Wang Fei and Princess Wei Young are my top 3 badass female MC novel.