[Possessive pursuit + palace and household intrigue + devoted to one another + real and fake substitutes + a groveling ex]
Jiang Qing’s stepbrother gets involved in a murder case. To save her son, her stepmother drugs Jiang Qing and sends her to Crown Prince Xuan Jing as a plaything.
Xuan Jing, meanwhile, disregards her wishes and treats her as a substitute for the beloved woman who died young.
Seeing the truth, Jiang Qing uses the crown prince’s power to take revenge on her scumbag father and stepmother. But she is also forced to become the lowest-ranking consort in the prince’s household.
The beloved woman’s younger sister sees her as a thorn in her side, while the empress’s niece considers her a thorn in her flesh.
Everyone expects Jiang Qing to be cast aside soon. Instead, she plays sweet and docile, rising from a lowly consort all the way to Liangdi...
When Jiang Qing becomes pregnant, Xuan Jing is overjoyed. He even petitions the emperor to make her crown princess.
But just then, the beloved woman returns from the dead!
Jiang Qing and the beloved woman are captured together. The crown prince chooses the beloved woman without hesitation, and Jiang Qing, heavily pregnant, throws herself off a cliff.
The usually aloof and composed crown prince spits up blood on the spot...
Later, the new emperor, once so arrogant, humbly begs her forgiveness: “Qingqing, come back to the palace with me. Both I and the empress’s throne are yours.”
Jiang Qing sneers. “Give me the throne, and I’ll consider forgiving you.”
“Done.”
*
Later, the gravely wounded tyrant of an enemy kingdom suddenly opens his eyes.
He seems strangely familiar with the imperial palace of Sheng, and climbs into Jiang Qing’s bed in the dead of night.
His breath is hot, his voice beguiling. “Qingqing, this time I’ve brought an entire country as my dowry. Do you want it?”
That Su Qingqing is just a cover, right?