Stop! Her Majesty Knows She Was Wrong, but Won’t Change

[Alternate History + Discipline + Humiliation + Light Palace Intrigue + Light Ensemble Cast + Not Both Chaste + Not a Strong Female Lead]

[Content Warning: Physical abuse, but not emotional abuse + A troublemaking female lead who never learns her lesson]

Wrong tags! Not angsty!

The Great Jing Dynasty is bound by strict rules of etiquette.

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Yu Yanqiu, daughter of a minor official, has been in the palace for three months.

She is strikingly beautiful, with captivating almond-shaped eyes, but her nature is headstrong and a little spoiled. She refuses to accept her lowly status, full of life and always asking for trouble.

She is sweet-tongued and flirtatious, but has no sense of propriety. She fears pain even more than embarrassment.

[Main Goal]

She climbs over others to rise in rank, firmly believing, “If the emperor scolds me, at least he remembers me. That’s better than not even being worth a beating.” Yet after every reprimand, she secretly curses the damn emperor, then turns around and starts plotting how to frame the next person.

*

Xiao Chengyi

[Scheming + Coldhearted + Rascally Handsome]

He has a handsome face with a roguish air. When his peach-blossom eyes smile, he seems affectionate; when he lowers his gaze, he appears gentle.

He has a languid, nonchalant air, with a youthful charm that never diminishes his imperial authority. When dealing with disputes in the harem, he always uses “the rules” as an excuse, tacitly allowing palace intrigue.

He indulges Yu Yanqiu’s liveliness, yet disapproves of her “overstepping.” Whenever she breaks palace rules, he uses them as an excuse to discipline her

[❗In public❗] He has her punished with the cane for her mischief, teaching her to be obedient as he watches her transform from a snarling little wildcat into a sobbing...

He gives her favor, and he punishes her, keeping her wavering between “punishment and affection.”

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The Empress makes it her duty to “put the harem in order.”

The consorts use “palace rules” to suppress their rivals.

Through repeated lessons for “disrespect” and “improper conduct,” Yu Yanqiu gradually learns how to survive in the harem.

[Note] ❗In public❗

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A rebellious, unruly Baolin vs. an emperor steeped in schemes