Better to Seize Power Than Fight for Favor: The Consort Aims to Slay the Dragon

When Emperor Yuan first took the throne, powerful clans held sway. Li Wenci was born into a fallen marquis's household. Her father was muddleheaded, her mother had died young, and her cruel stepmother wanted to marry her off as someone's second wife. Her own brother was exceptionally talented, yet kept down and left to struggle alone. To secure a chance at survival for herself and clear a path for her brother's career, Li Wenci became one of the first young women selected for the imperial palace.

Rumor had it that Emperor Yuan had a blue face and fangs, was built like an ox, and had a name that could stop a child from crying at night. He was a brute who knew nothing but war.

But Li Wenci had barely entered the palace when he tried to send her to her death?

(The heroine is exceptionally intelligent and has room to grow. Her outlook changes with what she goes through, and she only becomes a true power-hungry schemer in the end. There is a little romance, but no male lead in the strict sense. To me, the heroine is the only main character; everyone else is supporting cast.)