The Poisonous Empress Competes for Virtue, Not Favor

Tags: Historical Romance, Transmigrate Into a Book, Palace Intrigue, Comeback, Strong Female Lead, Political Schemes, Emperor and Empress, Feel-Good, Subverting Tropes, Talented Actress

One-line Summary: A C-list actress transmigrates into the body of a villainous empress. She refuses to compete for the emperor’s favor or fight with other women, and uses her acting skills and broad perspective to rise to become a virtuous empress remembered through the ages.

While filming a scene in which Consort Ying falls into the water for Jade Shattered Against Vermilion Walls, C-list actress Cui Hongting is struck by an exploding light and transmigrates into a book. She becomes the villainous empress who shares her name: the legitimate daughter of the Duke of Anguo, notorious for her jealousy and cruel treatment of the harem. The emperor despises her, and her deposition is imminent. In the original story, she is also supposed to push Consort Ying into the water, setting off a chain of events that ends with the Cui family’s downfall and her own lonely death in confinement.

She opens her eyes to find herself in hell. She abandons the original’s lovesick obsession, stops taking the contraceptive soup, treats Consort Ying kindly, keeps her maternal family in check, and puts the inner court in order. Hated by everyone as a jealous empress, she steadily earns her place in history as a virtuous empress admired by the court and the people.

Xiao Jingyuan at first: “Putting on an act? Let’s see how long you can keep it up.”

Later: “Of the harem and the empire, only the empress has my trust.”