The Empress Has Great Ambitions

My next novels will be "May the Noble Consort Be Blessed" and "Long Live the Empress." Please add them to your favorites!

Su Yueying is the eldest legitimate daughter of the Minister of Revenue, born noble but with a life as fragile as paper.

Her mother died young, and her father dislikes her.

The court is in turmoil as the princes vie for the throne. Her stepmother can't bear to send her own daughter to become Prince Yong Chu Yu's secondary consort, so she persuades Su Yueying's father to send her to the Prince Yong's residence in a small sedan chair.

Prince Yong, Chu Yu, is cold-hearted and disciplined, and never shows the women of his household a kind word.

To win his favor, Su Yueying has to conceal every dirty trick she uses. She goes to great lengths to play a fragile, innocent white lotus in front of him, earning a little of his pity.

At last, Chu Yu ascends the throne and she is made a consort. Just as she sees spring on the horizon, her family plans to send her younger sister into the palace during the selection, hoping to take her place.

Su Yueying clutches the letter from home. Every word is full of "deep affection," urging her to think of the greater good, support her sister, and secure the family's honor and favor.

They want to use her as a stepping-stone to power? They'd better make sure they have the good fortune to survive it!

Su Yueying will do anything to climb higher. She never expected that in the end, the lofty emperor himself would place the throne of empress before her with his own hands.

**

[Male lead's perspective]

Chu Yu was taught from a young age:

"A ruler must not show his emotions. He must balance and restrain power, cast aside personal feelings, and renounce love and desire."

He had always done so perfectly: calm, merciless, impartial. Until the little sedan chair entered the Prince Yong's residence.

When he first met Su Yueying, he thought she was far too beautiful. A peerless beauty, worthy of the infamous beauties in the history books who brought down dynasties. He would have to be strict with her and never let her grow spoiled.

Later, she was always meek and obedient in front of him, like a white lotus drenched in rain, so fragile she needed to cling to a towering tree like him to survive.

She was a good actress. The admiration in her eyes, the dependence in her words: she handled it all perfectly.

But Chu Yu knew who he was. How could he fail to see the utter lack of love in her eyes?

He knew she was nothing like the innocent woman she appeared to be.

She was petty and vindictive. Anyone who provoked her would meet a terrible end.

And yet, this was the very woman whose image kept drawing Chu Yu's gaze, time and again. He even took the initiative to clean up her messes and cover for her schemes. He knew he shouldn't, but he couldn't control himself.

She was a ball of fire, drawing in him, an iceberg.

At some point, Chu Yu began to desperately want to fill her eyes with nothing but his reflection.

The vast realm was too heavy a burden, and the loneliness of the throne was too cold.

She was the only person with whom he wanted to share the splendor of a peaceful and prosperous age.

[Reader's guide]

1. Standard palace intrigue. The male lead is not a virgin.

2. The female lead isn't a good person by conventional standards. She will actively harm others and wants power above all.

[Blurb for May the Noble Consort Be Blessed. Please add it to your favorites!]

After her younger sister dies in childbirth, Su Yunwei enters the palace by imperial decree as a Noble Consort of Radiant Virtue.

Everyone says the Su family is greedy for wealth and glory, sending the older sister into the palace right after the younger one dies.

Su Yunwei thinks they're absolutely right.

Imperial favor, power, and untold wealth: she intends to keep it all firmly in her grasp!

Xiao Bing ascended the throne at a young age and rules with absolute authority. Naturally, he can see the venomous heart beneath her Guanyin-like face.

But he still grants her the imperial favor she wants.

She uses that favor to climb higher, while also driving the people who killed her sister into one desperate corner after another.

There's no turning back once you enter the palace. Either you become someone else's stepping-stone, or you crush everyone beneath your feet!

Theme: If you want something, go get it.