You Scoundrel, Just Sit Back and Watch? I’ll Put on the Perfect Show

[A stunning beauty who's a master actress and a sharp-tongued queen versus a scummy emperor who regrets his ways and talks himself into falling for her]

(Enters the palace in Chapter 13)

(Palace intrigue + reborn + not mutually chaste + no exclusive favor)

In her previous life, her cousin used dark magic to steal her fortune. She did every wicked thing imaginable, yet always managed to escape disaster.

Reborn, Chi Zhaoying is determined to stop her from getting her way. She foils her cousin's schemes one after another, only to discover that her long-absent father has returned to stand up for her, her younger brother who died young has become a powerful minister, and she herself has entered the palace as a widow to become a consort. But why has the child she bore after being violated by a thief become a prince?

The imperial palace is like a theater.

The emperor considers himself a spectator. He showers Chi Zhaoying with gold, silver, silks, and satins, then watches her compete with the other consorts.

Chi Zhaoying puts on the performance of a lifetime, making the emperor willingly help her support the Chi family and eliminate her rivals, all so he can watch her perform the next act.

In the end, the spectator becomes part of the play.

Chi Zhaoying: The emperor can play the devoted lover, and so can she. Besides, the emperor is so handsome that she can't say she's losing out.