Chapter 1: Prologue
(3rd November 1627)
"Baadshah Shahryar Mirza ki! Jai!"
"Baadshah Shahryar Mirza ki! Jai!"
"Baadshah Shahryar Mirza ki! Jai!"
I smiled as my husband was getting coronated as the Fifth Emperor of the Mughal Empire by my mother.
Years of hardwork have finally shown results.
22 years ago, I was reincarnated as Mihr-un-nissa Begum, the only daughter of Noor Jahan from her first husband, Shah Afghan.
When I was two years old, my first father died, and mother became the lady-in-waiting of the chief wife of Akbar.
And my mother managed to gain affection of the late empress, and managed to marry my second father, Jahangir. She had such control over him, through love, lust and opium, that despite being the last consort and without any kids with him, she became the strongest empress in the entirety of Mughal history.
I got married to the fifth and youngest direct son of Jahangir, Shahryar Mirza at the age of fifteen. And even at the age of 22, I am his only wife, with concubines chosen by me.
Since I was reincarnated, I was proclaimed as an incredible genius. I am very well versed in Persian, Sanskrit and Hindi. I made a guidebook on Hindi, and translated Ramayan from Sanskrit to Hindi in the form of manga, Kesalay to be exact.
My mother wasn't really too appreciated by Jahangir's other wives and children due to her wielding so much power, so I invented printing press, improved paper manufacturing, and created manga of Ramayan and distributed throughout the Empire to make me popular in the general population.
But the main thing behind my power is my husband's private army and a certain company.
A well trained army like a modern military with whatever information I had, and I often address them, gift them bonuses, do handshaking events, and even sing regularly for their entertainment so that they remain loyal to me.
My company, 'Luv Potion' mainly engages in selling opium products made from Opium in Afghanistan that I control, exclusively to only the nobles of the empire and other kingdoms and empires. Not common people. This not only allows me to control the corrupt nobles, but also weaken them to the point that I will have less trouble when I will finally eliminate them all. It is run in the name of one of our concubine, who gave birth to my and my husband's child recently.
I am running another company, under another concubine's name for luxury items like luxury clothing, perfumes, another one with carpets and home decorations, another with Kesalays. And all of the companies are under my conglomerate 'Mihr'.
And all concubines are my maids, who were once beautiful peasant girls, and now will bear my and my husband's children. Seducing such naive girls wasn't really hard. And no one knows that just because a woman receives the juices of both man and his wife, doesn't mean that it also becomes the child of the wife along with the husband. This way, all the kids will be my kids as well. And I will not need to give birth to many kids. Moreover, this will reduce inbreeding.
My mother is a great politician, being able to control the Mughal court to such an extent. Well, bribes and opium did help a lot, but that's what politicians do. So, it was evident that whoever will marry me will get her support in becoming the next Emperor. Since I also wield great power over the general populace.
But, even then, many of the princes and princesses have become addicts.
The main problem was my maternal uncle, Asaf Khan and his daughter, who will go on to become Mumtaz Mahal in the future. He wanted his son-in-law, Khurram(who would be know as Shah Jahan after his ascension to throne) to ascend the throne, and even helped in rebellion.
In the original timeline, he would have not been killed due to my mother's love for her brother, but I told a fake harassment case to both my mother and father, and I told father that he wants to kill mother to make his son-in-law as the next Emperor before the rebellion happened.
And when Khurram really rebelled, Jahangir became furious, and hanged him, my cousin, and my uncle and managed to convince my mother to let go of her sisterly love for her own good and her daughter's safety.
For years, I worked hard, schemed, and managed to secure my power.
And now, my husband is the Emperor, with all opposition of nobles, princes and princesses either dead or opium addicts who will do anything to get more.
And my younger husband is in the palms of my hands, whom I have manipulated since our marriage.
My husband sat on the throne, and my mother placed the Emperor's crown on his head, officially making him the Fifth Emperor of the Mughal Empire.
And I sat on a slightly smaller and feminine throne, with my gold plated royal dress and crown of the empress showcasing me as the new Empress.
Not as just Mihr Begum, but Shahbanu Mihr. A title not given to even my mother. But, I like to be called Maharani better, which is closer to the people I will rule now.
"Shahbanu Mihr ki! Jai!"
"Maharani Mihr ki! Jai!"
"Maharani Mihr ki! Jai!"
I smiled and waved my hand at the crowd of commoners cheering for me. They are cheering for me more than the Emperor himself, who is majorly very obscure and without much presence.
But, my rule hasn't been completely consolidate yet. The first prince is more popular than my husband. And he will be arriving from Bihar soon, and a War of Succession will start.
Then there's the second prince as well. He should have got the news the Jahangir has died by now too and heading here from Deccan.
Both of the princes rejected marriage with me, and aren't addicts.
Well, I would like to see their armies counter my grenades.
Just some more time, and I will fully consolidate my power in the Mughal Empire.
And then, use British tactics to conquer the entirety of Bharat.
I will become the Empress of India
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