A Phoenix's Plot for the Crown Prince's Heart

Also known as The Supporting Female Lead Strikes Back (Supporting female lead's comeback + rivals fighting over her + groveling chase) Her father was a celebrated general who had helped quell a rebellion, and her mother came from a family of imperial merchants with immense wealth. Lin Xiyan herself was both beautiful and talented, famous throughout the capital. Even before she came of age, everyone knew her name. With a background like hers, she should have been the crown prince's consort and the future empress. She had always pursued that goal, devoting herself to the crown prince and turning a blind eye to Prince Qi, who adored her. But fate had other plans. The crown prince had eyes only for her half-sister, that fragile little white flower? After poisoning her half-sister and behaving arrogantly and wickedly, she fell from heaven in an instant. The darling of heaven became a rat everyone wanted to crush, dying miserably in the street. All the wealth and power she left behind became her half-sister's dowry. Only as she lay dying did she realize that her life was just a book. Her half-sister was the heroine, rising from an inconsequential concubine-born daughter to become empress of the realm. Lin Xiyan was merely a vicious supporting character, vain and wicked, a stepping stone on the lovers' path to happiness... A voice told her that only by going along with her half-sister and currying favor with her could she survive... But why should she? Lin Xiyan had been born noble. She was a phoenix destined to soar through the heavens. Why should she ever have to curry favor with anyone?