The Palace Falls

Blurb: Wu Ye, the founding emperor of the Dawu dynasty, and Empress Zhang Xian were childhood sweethearts. During their three years of marriage, Zhang Xian had more than enough time to realize that Wu Ye not only didn’t love her, but also looked down on her common, streetwise habits. In the third year of the Tianchu era, the empress presented the emperor with a letter of self-reproach and asked to be stripped of her title and sent out of the palace. To the young ruler who possessed the whole realm and everything in it, this was nothing short of a provocation. The emperor granted only half her wish. He stripped her of her title, demoted her to commoner, and divorced her, but refused to let her leave the palace. Instead, he kept her there as a palace maid. By then, Zhang Xian knew she had married the wrong man, but she never imagined Wu Ye could disregard their past affection and be so merciless and coldhearted. Still, she had substantial savings, had always treated people well during her three years as empress, and had won over quite a few court ladies and consorts. She only needed to endure five years, and then she could leave the palace without trouble. Things did not go as she had hoped. Her first year as a maid passed in relative peace, but from the second year on, everything changed. The court lady who could protect her was transferred elsewhere, while the consort who had been willing to take her into her palace was demoted and could no longer protect herself. In her third year as a maid, she was transferred to Yuanlong Hall, where the emperor lived, and had to endure Wu Ye’s mercurial temper. That was bearable, but what Zhang Xian couldn’t accept was the emperor forcing her to spend the night there. She protested, “Your Majesty and I divorced long ago. Apart from the master-servant relationship, there is nothing between us.” He replied, “You know we’re master and servant. Whatever your master tells you to do, you do.” In her fourth year, the emperor stopped giving her the contraceptive soup. Desperate, Zhang Xian decided to risk everything and fight her way out. She succeeded, but only after four years. After Zhang Xian escaped, Wu Ye was furious with rage. Four years later, when he saw her as another man’s wife, he went even more mad. If you can’t wait for this novel to finish, you can check out High and Mighty. It’s a modern romance, but its core is the same: a ruthless male lead who forcibly takes the woman he wants, and gets what he wants in the end. As for whether the leads in this historical romance will get a HE, I’m writing it as I go. If I can make it work and keep it logical, they’ll reconcile. If not, the scumbag can get lost after being thoroughly tortured. Judging by the story around chapter forty, there’s a 99 percent chance they won’t reconcile. It’s time for revenge and for the scumbag to suffer. I’m thinking of starting this one next. Title: A Complete Mess Three-sentence pitch: After regaining all the memories of his past life, Wang Lingyin is shaken by Li Yuan’s death. Fortunately, he has the foresight to see what’s coming, and becomes an unstoppable, godlike presence. He becomes even more domineering and forceful, “hating” her more and “bullying” her even worse. Blurb: When the Zhao Prince’s estate held a wedding to welcome a secondary wife, the former principal wife, who had already fallen from favor, was lying on her sickbed, near death. Listening to the commotion outside, Li Yuan opened her vacant eyes and asked, “What’s that noise? It’s so loud.” Her vision was blurry, and she could see less and less. It seemed it wouldn’t be long before she went completely blind. The maid serving her was not particularly attentive. She was just hoping Li Yuan would hurry up and die so she could get away from Beitai Residence, which was like an ice cellar. So she answered with deliberate exaggeration, “Today is the grand wedding day of our prince and the third young lady of the Duke’s mansion. Of course it’s lively outside. Princess Consort, please bear with it. I wouldn’t dare go out and invite trouble at a time like this.” So it was today. She wouldn’t live long enough to see him after all. She had thought she might see Wang Lingyin once more before she died. They hadn’t seen each other in a long time. The last time had been when she learned he had ordered her father and brother’s execution and tried to take him down with her. She didn’t want to see him out of jealousy or because she couldn’t let him go. The maid who had served her since childhood had been taken away by the estate’s stewardess to be punished, and she didn’t know what had happened to her. She wanted to ask him, since she was about to die, to show mercy and give her maid a decent future. The light before her grew dimmer and dimmer. Earlier, she had been grateful that her eyes could barely see anything, because then she wouldn’t have to look at Wang Lingyin’s hateful face when he came. She was afraid her resentment would get the better of her and she’d offend him, ruining her chance to plead for the maid. But now it didn’t matter. She might not even make it through the night, and there was no way he would come to this shabby Beitai Residence to visit her on his wedding night. She was of no use to him anymore. The clanging and banging outside grew louder and more festive. Li Yuan’s vision finally went completely black, and a bone-deep chill made her body shake. Trembling, she summoned the last of her strength and asked the maid if a fire had been lit. No one answered. If someone had told her three years ago that she would die alone and destitute on a winter night, abandoned like a worthless object, she would never have believed it. Those were Li Yuan’s final thoughts before she died. Blurb two, from the male lead’s perspective: Wang Lingyin felt no guilt whatsoever about using Li Yuan. The Li family had grown too powerful and had no idea when to stop. Even if the emperor, his elder brother, had been softhearted and wasn’t planning to wipe them out, Wang Lingyin would still have become the blade that removed this threat on behalf of his brother and the imperial family. But it was Li Yuan’s father and brothers who had committed crimes. Strictly speaking, she had done nothing wrong. She was also quite beautiful and well-behaved, and serving him had always pleased him. So when her whole family was convicted, he kept her by his side and even preserved her position as his princess consort. It was only a small act of charity on his part, but the emperor and empress dowager felt he had been wronged. They issued two edicts at once, arranging a marriage for him. As a prince known for his loyalty and filial piety, he naturally had to accept.  He thought that if Li Yuan was smart enough, she would understand her position and wisely endure everything, grateful to him and devoted to him as her husband. Besides, a secondary wife was no big deal. It just meant another person living in the estate. Everything else would stay the same. When he decided he had left her alone long enough and taught her enough of a lesson, he thought he would go see her, now that she had given in and accepted her fate. But when he arrived, Beitai Residence was completely dark... Word spread through the streets and alleys that the Zhao Prince had gone mad after taking a secondary wife. Every day, he performed rituals on top of Beitai Residence, the highest building in his estate. They said he had lost his mind and refused to eat or drink. At last, something happened. Every resident of the capital saw the towering flames rising from Beitai Residence. Thank you, readers, for your precious favorites. Once this novel has enough, I’ll start it after finishing Palace Trap. Please give this upcoming novel a chance. I bow in gratitude. Theme: Freedom matters most.