A Little More Love for the Noble Consort

*

Her parents’ broken marriage taught Zhu Tangyi, in a way she would never forget, that the more brilliant and powerful a nobleman is, the more likely he is to hide a deadly poison within.

After one rainy night, Zhu Tangyi stands with her hair disheveled and her back to the man.

He turns her around, stunned to discover that she is his cousin in name.

He asks Zhu Tangyi if she would enter the palace. She refuses. Entering the palace is out of the question.

A month later.

“Jiaojiao, take a look. Are you satisfied with Heir Pei?” The Empress Dowager takes Zhu Tangyi’s hand and asks.

Zhu Tangyi feels a chill run down her spine and doesn’t dare look at the man behind her.

When she goes to the imperial retreat, she discovers she is pregnant. Realizing she is in trouble, she goes to great lengths to get medicine. But just as she lifts the bowl, the emperor knocks it from her hands. Gripping her chin, he says harshly, “The child is mine, and so are you.”

*

Later, Zhu Tangyi comes to understand that men are all fickle, and emperors are even worse. So she must stay true to herself and never lose her way. A man can be nothing more than the father of her child; the child matters more than the father.

*

After one night of passion, the man leans close to the Noble Consort’s ear and says in a hoarse voice, “Jiaojiao, I love you. Do you love me?”

The Noble Consort gives no reply.

Later, gazing at the rivers and mountains beneath the bright moon, Consort Shu says softly, “I’ve loved you all along, it seems.”

A proud, stubborn emperor × a kindhearted, radiant Noble Consort