In the thirty-fifth year of the Chengping era, the palace selection drove Shen Qinglian to the edge of a cliff:
Her stepmother had already sold her to the Zhou family in exchange for wealth and a promotion. Her father melted into the shadows, not uttering a word.
She raised her eyes to the dais.
The Chengping Emperor sat upon the dragon throne, his body hollowed out by wine and women, little more than a withered husk nearing death.
If she was chosen, she would be trapped in a cold palace, widowed while still alive.
If she was rejected, she would be locked away in the Zhou household and slowly tortured to death.
Fate had never given her a choice: she would either be buried with the Zhou family or die on the dragon bed.
“This girl looks promising. She’d be just right for Prince Cheng.”
At those words, Shen Qinglian stumbled toward Prince Cheng’s residence.
She thought she had found a way out.
But she was wrong. Everyone in that inner courtyard was a pawn in his hands:
Those who were useful were treasured; those who were not were discarded like trash.
If that was how things were, she would overturn the board herself.
Everything that came before was in the past.
From now on, she would claim boundless favor and a life of endless joy!
Treading over the corpses of the imperial harem’s beauties, she would smash her way through this palace that devoured lives, fighting step by step for a kingdom for herself and her daughter.
Note:
1. Traditional household intrigue develops into palace intrigue. The heroine grows over time; at first, her schemes are relatively mild and small-scale, but in the middle and later stages she turns ruthless and kills without hesitation, becoming focused on her ambitions. Her daughter eventually becomes emperor.
2. The male lead is unfaithful and a total scumbag.
3. The heroine falls for the male lead, but comes to her senses. A secondary male character has unrequited feelings for her.
4. The names were found online or adapted from poems at random; they have no particular meaning.
5. The pacing is slow at first, then picks up later.
Prince’s household ranks:
Princess Consort → Side Consort → Lady Hu Yi → Lady Feng Ji → Lady Shu Nv → Bedchamber Attendant
