A High-Ranking Consort from Day One: The Emperor Cousin Is Too Easy to Tempt

[Palace intrigue + marriage first, love later + intense push and pull + two formidable leads vying for power + the powerful one bows] [Clear-eyed, radiant daughter of a military family VS a young emperor who plans every move] Jiang Mingshu, the empress dowager’s niece and a cherished daughter of a military family, is selected to enter the palace. From the very start, she is given the rank of Third-Rank Lady of Splendor and the Yihua Palace, closest to the Hall of Supreme Harmony. Everyone calls it an overwhelming imperial favor. Only Jiang Mingshu knows the truth: her suspicious, cold-blooded cousin, the emperor, has set her up as a living target to draw every arrow. The imperial consorts wait for her to meet a tragic end, while the emperor watches the game unfold from above. But Jiang Mingshu refuses to follow the script. Rules? The empress dowager is her aunt, the mighty armies of the northwest are her fallback, and the eight great money houses are her treasury. Harassment and withheld supplies? She slaps the Ministry of Internal Affairs matron until her face swells, then crushes the corner of her jade genealogy tablet underfoot. Plots and poison? She packs up the tribute incense exactly as it was and sends it to Cishou Palace, using someone else’s hand to strip Consort Ning of her power. Late one night in the Hall of Supreme Harmony, she presses a cinnabar-tipped brush to the emperor’s chest. Red pigment glides from her fingertips over his Adam’s apple and into the collar of his black robe. “Your Majesty treats me like a chess piece, but you don’t know how temperamental I am. I love turning over the board. “The doors of this hall are locked tonight. Your Majesty wants to punish me, but would you really let me die?” He grips her chin and forces her to look up. Dark ferocity and possessiveness burn in his eyes. “You act so recklessly. Are you sure I wouldn’t dare kill you?” She loops an arm around his neck and leans closer, her smile even more dazzling. “If Your Majesty were truly willing, then who is it that forced his way into my chambers in the dead of night?”