Their first meeting catapulted Zhu out of nothingness and into a grand future.

Zhu and Ouyang’s story begins at the monastery, and it ends with their final confrontation.

Even the beginning and end of the book are perfect foils. This narrative is the very center of their conflict. Zhu and Ouyang’s stories portray very clearly this juxtaposition of desires versus destiny. His history, his ancestors, demand revenge, and yet he’s in love with Esen. His story also revolves around wanting circumvent fate fate. Despite the low position and indignity of being a eunuch, Ouyang rises through the ranks and becomes Lord Esen’s personal bodyguard. As a young boy, Ouyang was taken from his family, castrated, and given as a slave to Lord Esen. This same characteristic defines another character who ends up being Zhu’s greatest enemy: General Ouyang. And her actions become more proactive as she pits her own desires against fate. Then, later on, she realizes she wants to seize the fate of greatness promised to her brother. To not end up “nothing” as was said by the fortuneteller her father took her and her brother to as children. At first, she’s simply determined to survive. Zhu’s sheer determination to seize a better destiny for herself is a compelling driving force for this book.

She ends up throwing in her lot with an opposing army, setting in motion events that lead to the founding of the Ming Dynasty. But then the monastery ends up sacked by Mongolian warlords, and Zhu finds herself on the run again. When she manages to disguise herself as a monk and ends up living at a monastery, she thinks her troubles are over. The events of She Who Became the Sun are set into motion by protagonist Zhu, who is determined to avoid her prophesied fate of “nothing”.

She who became the sun