Also known as The Jade-Boned Guide [Devoted Love, Many Children, Rise to Power]
In her previous life, Jiang Shu chose Prince Chen. But he looked down on her family background, which could not help him seize the throne, and would only take her as a concubine. So she married Gao Yang instead.
After they married, Gao Yang began to resent her past with Prince Chen. With the constant conflict between her and her mother-in-law, Gao Yang took a concubine less than a year into their marriage, and Jiang Shu asked to be divorced.
The warmth and companionship of her mother and sister made Jiang Shu’s days much more comfortable. By then, the Crown Prince had just ascended the throne, and Prince Chen had lost all hope of claiming it. Yet he set his sights on her again!
Before Prince Chen could make a move, however, Jiang Shu was brought before the new emperor. He asked her: if she had another chance, would she choose Prince Chen or him?
Jiang Shu chose the new emperor. If she was going to be a concubine either way, it was better to be an emperor’s concubine than a prince’s.
Unexpectedly, the new emperor really did take her into his harem.
The emperor never said he loved her. But as she became a target in the harem’s power struggles because of his favor, someone always helped clear her name and expose the real culprit. The emperor would also deal harshly with those who framed her.
She had thought the emperor was simply fair in rewarding and punishing people. Later, she learned that the people who helped her had been appointed by the emperor himself. Gradually, she rose from a low-ranking consort to a high-ranking one, and eventually became empress.
Only when the emperor died did Jiang Shu learn that he had secretly loved her for years. When she chose someone else, he had deliberately withdrawn from her life. After she was divorced, he had wanted to bring her into the palace, but couldn’t bear to make her endure the palace’s schemes and rivalries. It was only when Prince Chen set his sights on her that the emperor finally stepped in.
The emperor probably believed until his dying breath that Jiang Shu had treated him well only for his power and imperial status. So, before he died, he handed over to her the power she cherished most...
When Jiang Shu opened her eyes again, she had returned to the day Prince Chen drugged her.
