[Unconventional palace intrigue + satisfying revenge + alternate history + heroine with a cheat + raising kids]
When Wei Chang'an entered the palace, she never expected to become empress.
The daughter of a third-rank civil official, she’s only a Talented Lady. She can’t compare in status to Empress Xie, the Grand Tutor’s granddaughter, or Noble Consort Xia, the general’s younger sister. And she can’t compete for the emperor’s favor with the Consorts and Concubines ranked above her.
All she can do is tread carefully, fawning over those of higher rank and looking down on those beneath her, and become the Noble Consort’s little shadow. But this only earns her an icy glance from the emperor.
To stay alive, she turns around and smiles ingratiatingly at the “dog emperor.” Unexpectedly, she becomes the first consort in the harem to conceive.
The entire palace is in an uproar. After all, the emperor has had no children for years, and rumors have been flying everywhere.
Wei Chang'an rubs her belly, smiling on the outside and cursing to herself: The dog emperor can’t even have children. I’m the one doing the work here!
Then she turns and murmurs to the baby in her belly, “My precious baby, help your mother turn her life around. Let me roll my eyes whenever I want, and never have to watch anyone’s face again.”
Later, she discovers that every child she bears earns her another rank.
By the time her third child is born, Wei Chang'an has finally achieved “the freedom to roll her eyes.”
So what if she’s the empress? Even the one who rules the Inner Palace has to depend on others.
Until one day, the palace bells toll in sorrow...
The emperor is dead. Holding her children’s hands, she takes a single step toward the most exalted position under heaven.
