(Palace intrigue with a rising power curve + clear-eyed heroine determined to climb the ranks + face-slapping)
(The emperor and heroine are both master actors, using each other + neither is sexually pure)
Peach blossoms bloom in radiant splendor; the bright moon shines clear, and willow branches sway in the breeze.
Liu Zhuohua, daughter of the second-rank General of the Cavalry, enters the palace and is first granted the title of Lady. Facing a shrewd and calculating Empress Dowager, a stone-faced Empress, a favored consort who might be true love, and a constant stream of people imitating her old rival, she advances one careful step at a time, turning the Great Yong Dynasty upside down.
On her very first day in the palace, Lady Liu is summoned by the emperor, and their first night together lasts three days.
All because she is the young concubine the emperor personally requested be selected.
On the first night, as Liu Zhuohua hesitates over whether to drink the tea on the table, Chu Che appears without a sound, smiling with a barb hidden in his words. “Are you worried the tea is poisoned, my dear?”
Liu Zhuohua hurriedly shakes her head, pours him a cup first, then pours one for herself and drinks.
The next day, when Liu Zhuohua tries to get up and pay her respects, Chu Che smiles again. “You should rest properly, my dear. Understand?”
Looking at his expression, Liu Zhuohua quickly lies back down.
If the emperor wants her to act wild, then wild she will be, for the whole inner palace to see.
She ignores the Empress, picks fights with the Empress Dowager, and leaves no one out...
No flower stays in bloom for a hundred days, and the arrogant will eventually be humbled. The consorts of the inner palace all wait for Lady Liu to fall.
Lady Liu says that even if she falls, she can get back up. I want the title of favored consort, I want the throne of Empress, and this Great Yong realm... I want it all!
(There’s no true love later on either. Please proceed with caution if that bothers you.)
(The blurb may not do it justice. Come give it a try.)
