A Second Empress's Survival Guide to Palace Intrigue

Blurb:

Lin Yunqi transmigrates into the body of an empress, the third empress of this dynasty.

The first empress, the Zhou clan's eldest daughter and the prime minister's daughter, was virtuous and gracious, beloved by all. Sadly, she died of hemorrhage after a difficult delivery, having given birth to the legitimate heir.

The second empress, the emperor's cousin Zhang, was gentle, refined, and clever. Sadly, she was frail and couldn't bear the strain of giving birth to twins. After bearing a son and a daughter, her health deteriorated further, and she didn't survive the winter.

A nation cannot go a day without a ruler, nor the six palaces a day without a mistress. At the ministers' urging, the emperor is asked to appoint a new empress, and Lin Yunqi is chosen.

Her father, Marquis Changning, is merely a nobleman coasting on his family's legacy, an insignificant figure in this vast capital.

Even Lin Yunqi herself has little to recommend her beyond a remarkably beautiful face. Her mother, Concubine Su, is a merchant's daughter who can't even read, let alone teach her own child.

The reason Lin Yunqi is chosen is simple: Master Huiyuan, a highly respected monk in the capital, says her birth chart is strong and she is suited to be empress.

There is already a rumor among the people that the emperor brings death to his wives. All the noble daughters from the families selected as candidates are afraid. Some fall ill, others get married, and one even suddenly produces a fiance, claiming they were engaged as babies and their families had arranged everything long ago.

Seeing this, the emperor has no choice but to follow Master Huiyuan's advice and appoint Lin Yunqi as empress.

Lin Yunqi is baffled. What kind of starting situation is this?

But she soon understands: she's transmigrated into a palace-intrigue novel! She read it once, but only skimmed the beginning and glanced through the comments before closing it. All she remembers is that the heroine is the daughter of a minor official, and hasn't even entered the palace yet.

If only she'd known, she would have memorized the whole novel as soon as she saw the heroine shared her name! Now all she remembers is the heroine's name. What kind of transmigration into a book is that?

She remembers saving the novel because the palace intrigue was so exciting! So what was her original ending supposed to be?

Lin Yunqi remembers that the emperor in the novel never had a third empress. That's why the concubines fought so fiercely, each making the empress's position her ultimate goal. The blurb even ended with the heroine becoming empress.

Lin Yunqi remembers now: the original owner had just been appointed empress when she accidentally drowned. This confirmed the rumor that the emperor brought death to his wives, leaving him so disheartened that he never appointed another empress, until he met the heroine.

The heroine goes through being framed, falsely accused, losing a child, being pushed into the water, temporarily disfigured, and nearly dying in childbirth, among countless other ordeals, before finally becoming empress.

Great. How is she supposed to survive in this kind of environment?

And what is this System in front of her? What does "harmony level in the imperial harem" mean? In a palace-intrigue novel, is everyone supposed to get along and be happy? Did the mainframe get water damage?

Theme: Never give up.