The Emperor's Favorite

Historical romance | Reborn | Powerful emperor and empress | Devoted love | Court intrigue | A bittersweet romance | Happy ending | A heroine who grows over time

A cup of poisoned wine ended Su Ruixi's life of splendor, when she had once been the most beloved consort in the palace. Reborn on the third day after her coronation as empress, she opened her eyes and grabbed Emperor Xiao Jingyuan by the sleeve. This time, she would tell him, word by word, everything she'd been unable to say before she died in her previous life.

More than thirty years after the founding of the Great Qi Dynasty, the empire appears prosperous, but aristocratic clans and the emperor's in-laws are entrenched in power. The women of the imperial harem have become pawns in their families' political struggles. Emperor Xiao Jingyuan favors only Su Ruixi, using his imperial favor to establish the hierarchy of the harem and stirring up undercurrents at court. In her previous life, Su Ruixi was destroyed by this web of power. Her half-sister Su Ruilian's schemes, the empress dowager's and the second prince's rebellion, and a cup of poisoned wine brought her life to an end and robbed the emperor of half a lifetime of peace.

Reborn, Su Ruixi sheds her sweet, naive facade. Over three years, she grows from a canary sheltered in the emperor's palm into a true empress, capable of attending court and managing supply routes to the border. Standing at Xiao Jingyuan's side, she faces her half-sister's repeated plots, pressure from court officials and powerful clans, and the second prince's rebel army laying siege to the capital. She will offer the empire as her bride price and let her phoenix bearing stand as proof. She wants to be more than an empress who is adored above all others: she wants to be the one who protects the empire and the man she loves.