The Concubine's Daughter Rises to Power: The Blackhearted, Crippled Prince's Beloved

[A devoted couple with no other partners + two powerful leads building their careers + feel-good wish fulfillment with no holier-than-thou heroine + court intrigue] She is the unloved illegitimate daughter of the prime minister. When an imperial decree arrives, her father orders her to take the place of his legitimate daughter and marry Prince Jing, who is frail and near death.

Orphaned as a child, he is gifted but has had to pretend to be ill to survive. Born into the imperial family, he long ago cast aside love and affection. Faced with his beautiful princess consort, he remains cool and aloof, cold in both manner and heart.

Everyone waits for their marriage to become a laughingstock, but she is more than just a pretty face. Calm and clever, she knows the man before her is the key to her survival. She takes arrows for him and studies medicine, all so she can keep him alive a little longer. Before he knows it, his heart has softened, and he wants to keep the woman by his side forever.

She thinks he is weak and needs her protection.

He thinks she is weak and needs his protection. In truth, they are both strong!

Who would have thought the man everyone calls a sickly invalid was only pretending? Unable to endure another bowl of the medicine she keeps bringing him, he grips her slender wrist and says hoarsely, “You brewed this medicine yourself, so don't blame me, Your Highness…”

After one night, Qing Ning realizes that everything she had heard was just a rumor!

She risks her life for him, and he does the same for her.

More important than power is her!

When turmoil rises again, he seizes power to protect her. With enemy troops at the gates, his gaze turns fierce: “A Ning, I've come to take you home.”

After years by each other's side and countless brushes with death, they have become the most important people in each other's hearts.

“As long as it's her, anything is fine.”

“A misunderstanding? A Ning and I would never misunderstand each other.”

Under his protection, she grows stronger and personally deals with everyone who has ever hurt her.

He always stands behind her, shielding her from every