[Historical palace intrigue, reborn, no reconciliation after a breakup, face-slapping and humiliating the villains, political maneuvering. The heroine takes down the emperor, rising from empress to female emperor. The romance develops slowly.]
In her previous life, Ye Xuezhi fell for Prince Qin at first sight and asked her father to secure an imperial decree for their marriage. After they wed, they were a loving couple. Though she remained childless for years, Shen Muyan never blamed her or considered taking concubines.
She believed Shen Muyan truly loved her, and used every resource at her disposal to help him claim the throne.
Who would have thought that as soon as he became emperor, he would bring his pregnant adopted sister and the daughter they had together back to the palace, then make her a favored consort?
Only then did she realize Shen Muyan had never loved her.
Not long afterward, the favored consort miscarried. Ye Xuezhi was framed for harming the imperial heir, and Shen Muyan flew into a rage and deposed her.
She spent the rest of her life in the Cold Palace. Her elder brother and mother died one after another, her father became a living corpse, and even the child in her womb was cruelly killed by Shen Muyan, who called it a bastard.
In the end, she chose to die together with the vile couple.
Reborn, Ye Xuezhi returns to the year she was deposed. This time, she will defy fate and trample the tyrant emperor beneath her feet.
She mercilessly face-slaps villain after villain and successfully holds on to her position as empress. She begins building her own power, and when she proposes an alliance with Gu Xianyao, the current chancellor, he curls his lips into a faint smile. “An alliance is possible, Your Majesty, but what will you offer in return?”
Ye Xuezhi: “How about half the empire?”
Gu Xianyao suddenly leans close. “Your Majesty, I don't want half the empire. I only want to be your devoted subject.”
