Empress: I Asked You for Advice, Not to Move Into My Bedchamber

[Empress + Eldest Princess + Poisonous Strategist + Alternate-History Court Intrigue + Romantic Tension + Exhilaratingly Satisfying] When condemned clerk Ji Heng was dragged into the Empress's bedchamber, the first thing he saw was a pair of snow-white ankles spattered with blood. Then the Empress pressed a dagger to his chin. Outside the palace gates, 6,900 rebels were fighting for the throne in the name of rescuing the sovereign. Inside, the Empress had only 1,200 palace guards at her command. Everyone urged her to seal the gates. Ji Heng, however, gave an answer that could get his entire family executed: “If Your Majesty wants to live, give up both the palace gates and the throne first.” Three palace gates. Three secret edicts. Three men, each convinced he could become regent. By morning, the three rebel armies had turned on one another, and Ji Heng had gone from a condemned prisoner awaiting execution in the autumn to the Empress's most hidden adviser. He thought he could leave once he obtained a pardon, but the Empress ordered the eastern side room of her bedchamber opened. The cold, beautiful Eldest Princess, who had just helped him deal with the rebels, stood guard outside with a sword in hand. From then on, the Empress asked him how to save the realm, while the Eldest Princess asked whether he wanted to keep his head. As for the court officials, they wanted to know just one thing: When would this living King of Hell, who kept offering the Empress poisonous schemes, finally get out of her bedchamber?