The Delicate Princess in His Bed: The New Emperor Can't Resist Bending for Her

[Palace intrigue in the middle and later parts / Female lead is a virgin, male lead is not / Eight- or nine-year age gap / Size difference / Male lead has no first love / Female lead is not strong, arguably even weak / Devoted love later on]

Proud emperor with a sharp tongue and a soft heart × delicate, gentle princess of a fallen kingdom

When they first meet, she holds a knife to her throat while he looks down at her from horseback.

When they meet again, she is so terrified of him that she kneels on the ground, trembling.

By the time they meet again and again, she has become one of his consorts, spoiled into a mischievous, willful girl, yet still utterly adorable.

The little princess lost her mother at six. At eight, her vile Crown Prince brother began eyeing her because of her beauty, so she had no choice but to move alone into the Cold Palace. She spent her days in fear, and her first fifteen years were a constant struggle to survive.

When enemy forces breached the city gates, she fled in a panic. She thought she would die by the sword, but instead she was saved by the tall, mighty, exceptionally handsome new emperor. And so... she became a lowly palace maid in the library pavilion of the Great Wei imperial city.

One day, while taking flowers to be delivered, she ran into the man who had saved her. The emperor was still every bit the lofty ruler, and in a moment, he had looked her over from head to toe. He couldn't help thinking: The little girl has certainly grown up...

From then on, the emperor stopped using his own study and began visiting the library pavilion every day.

Before long, the palace had a new Consort Zhao, who could fight, climb trees, wreak havoc, and cause trouble.

Years later, amid the passion of their bedchamber, the emperor guiltily put an arm around her waist and said, “Actually... I held you in my arms when you were little, too.”

[No replacement love / The Empress Dowager isn't evil / There may be a little angst in the middle, but it doesn't take away from the sweetness / Contains a female-female romance]