The Qionglin Banquet

Ruan Xiaoxiao was blessed with striking beauty, but her lowly status meant she was never loved by her family.

The place in the imperial selection that should have gone to her legitimate younger sister was handed to her instead, simply because the mistress of the household could not bear to send her own daughter into the palace to suffer.

Ruan Xiaoxiao thought this was not such a bad deal. After all, she would be the emperor's concubine, and she figured the mistress would never find her a decent match anyway.

The heroine's rise is slow. This is my first palace-intrigue novel, so please forgive me if some parts aren't well written!!