Sweet on the Outside, Dark Within: Meng Jingxian's Beloved Consort Training Plan

#The Black Lotus Is Forced to Play Along#

Yun Luo, an overworked office drone who died suddenly after staying up all night, opens her eyes to find herself as Meng Jingxian, who dies young in Empresses in the Palace.

In the original story, she is infatuated with Prince Guo, but Zhen Huan schemes against her, Huan Bi poisons her, and in the end even her child becomes a pawn in someone else's game.

Just then, the System's icy prompt rings in her ears:

"Host must fulfill Meng Jingxian's final wish: become the emperor's most favored consort, never be a stand-in or a discarded pawn, discover the cause of the original owner's death and take revenge, and emerge as the ultimate winner. Complete this, and you will receive generous rewards."

Yun Luo: ...This is too much to swallow.

#The Sickly Beauty Has a Cure for Defiance#

Consort Hua tells her to grind ink?

She turns around and sends Xia Dongchun's corpse to Yikun Palace.

The empress rewards her with a Guanyin statue for bearing sons, laced with musk?

She makes the empress "bear a son" that very night. The next day, Jingren Palace erupts: "Your Majesty... when was the last time the emperor came here?"

#The Emperor Is Winning Himself Over#

System (screaming): Host, you drugged the emperor's tea? That's regicide!

Yun Luo (calmly): I only wanted His Majesty to get some rest.

After three days laid up, the emperor gazes at her wrist, reddened from scalding herself while making medicine, and murmurs hoarsely, "Luo'er, no one has ever cherished me like this."

System (freaking out): Oh my god, it's all an act! Why are his eyes getting red?

Yun Luo (calmly munching on seeds): Thirty percent scheming, seventy percent sincerity. You'll learn.

Content warnings: 1. This story contains a lot of [Original Worldbuilding]. Readers who care about strict canon accuracy, beware.

2. [The leads are not mutually exclusive in the beginning, and may not be later either. The story leans toward the emperor favoring only her in the later stages.]

3. This is not a mindless sweet romance. Everyone is bad, and their actions make sense, including the heroine's.

4. [Not recommended for fans who only care about the main characters]: You could call it a half-dark version of Zhen Huan. I haven't decided which direction to take it yet.

Warnings are listed in advance. Please don't argue or flame. Thanks for understanding!