After staying up all night ranting about Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace, a twenty-first-century college student named Qin Zheng tore into its absurd plot, Qianlong’s cold-heartedness, and Ruyi’s foolish obsession with love. To her surprise, she transmigrated into the drama as Ula-Nara Ruyi.
Her aunt, Yixiu, had just died, and Qianlong was about to ascend the throne. She was at the heart of the palace’s deadly vortex: the Empress Dowager watched her like a hawk, Empress Fucha hid behind a mask of virtue and dignity, Consort Gao was arrogant and foolish, and Qianlong, whose selfish nature she had seen through long ago, stood at the pinnacle of power.
Armed with an all-knowing perspective and full knowledge of everyone’s fate, she had one crucial advantage: she felt no affection for Qianlong. A Ruyi who did not love the emperor could break free of the shackles of romance and become a max-level player in the inner palace. Her only goal was to survive in the man-eating Forbidden City by relying on her modern perspective.
The Empress Dowager bestowed the name “Ruyi” on her. She accepted it calmly without being bound by an empty title. When she realized A'Ruo had betrayed her, she turned the tables and sent her straight to the emperor’s bed, cleaning house without hesitation. At the Mid-Autumn banquet, she smashed a bracelet concealing musk in front of everyone, exposing the pretenses of Empress Fucha and Consort Gao and turning them against each other.
As the Empress Dowager and the emperor fought for power, she watched coldly and moved carefully, finding a way to survive between them. She believed neither in love nor in relying on imperial favor. Instead, she used her wits and knowledge of the future to plot her way through the palace’s treacherous waters.
The palace game was rigged from the start. She did not seek the emperor’s favor or a life as empress. She only wanted to avoid every tragedy, outlast everyone in the cage of the inner palace, and carve out a way to survive on her own terms.
