[Beautiful, poor, honest woman x cold, aloof emperor]
[Forced possession / tragic love / emperor pursues his wife after losing her]
The thing Ajiu regretted most in her life was deciding to kill him that night.
Back then, she and her husband lived in a remote mountain village, so poor they could barely scrape by. Their house let in the wind in winter and leaked in summer. They couldn't even afford a bowl of hot porridge.
Someone came to her and said that if she killed the man who shared her bed, they would give her ten thousand taels of gold.
She gritted her teeth and agreed.
She had already prepared the poisoned porridge. That night, she handed it to him, pretending nothing was wrong.
But suddenly, the courtyard outside blazed with lanterns, and the pounding of hooves shook their thatched cottage.
A group of eunuchs knelt with an imperial edict in their hands, announcing that her husband was a prince who had been lost among the common folk. With the emperor on his deathbed, he was being summoned to the capital to inherit the throne.
Her hand trembled, and the bowl fell to the ground!
It was over.
*
The poisoned porridge was soon discovered. Though she followed the new emperor back to the palace, she lived in fear every day, too afraid even to sleep soundly.
Attempted murder and plotting against the ruler: either crime was punishable by death...
She burned incense and prayed every day, asking for just one thing: to be sent to the Cold Palace, or simply dismissed from the palace by imperial decree.
Instead, an order came: "By imperial command, the guilty woman Ajiu is to attend the emperor at the Hall of Mental Cultivation tonight."
*
The first thing Xiao Yingli did after ascending the throne was deal with his audacious wife.
He couldn't understand how the woman who had shared several years of hardship with him could have tried to poison him.
Simply granting her death would be too easy.
He would keep her at his side, make her a lowly palace maid with no name or status, and have her serve him day and night. Only endless humiliation could ease his hatred.
On the first day, he made her kneel as she served tea.
On the third day, he made her stand guard all night without sleep.
On the fifth day, he summoned her to his bed...
Then one day, a palace servant reported, "Your Majesty, a maid has died in the Hall of Mental Cultivation. She left a letter saying that attempting to assassinate the emperor deserves death, and that she is now paying for her crime with her life."
He sprang to his feet, his heart tightening.
Xiao Yingli understood even less. How could his selfish ex-wife choose to take her own life just to escape him?
#After My Failed Attempt to Kill My Husband, He Became Emperor#
[Reading notes]
1. Beautiful, poor, honest woman x cold, aloof emperor.
2. Happy ending, both are each other's first.
Theme: Love helps people grow together.
