The Beauty Hidden in the Golden Palace

Old-school melodrama | Powerful man brought to his knees | Both leads are sexually inexperienced

Blurb:

Mu Sheng was taught by her mother to hide her beauty from a young age. After her mother's death, an accident brought her into the palace as a low-ranking servant, where she spent her days doing the hard labor of washing clothes for the palace women.

By chance, the Empress Dowager caught a glimpse of her face and seemed quite pleased with her looks. She had Mu Sheng carefully trained to win the emperor's favor through seduction.

For the sake of her benefactor's life, Mu Sheng had no choice but to obey the Empress Dowager.

She put on a sheer gauze dress and carried a pot of drugged wine into the pool where the emperor was bathing.

But the young, handsome emperor had no interest in women. His gaze toward her was icy and utterly indifferent.

After a scornful laugh,

he forced every last drop of wine down her throat...

Afterward, the emperor magnanimously promoted her to the rank of senior palace maid serving at his side.

Mu Sheng knew this was no reward. He detested her and wanted her near so he could toy with and humiliate her at will.

She had no title or status, yet had to attend him in bed every night, becoming a plaything to satisfy his desires.

Mu Sheng endured in silence and played her part.

At last, when the emperor traveled through the northern lands, she found a chance to escape. She packed her belongings and set out to find her brother.

*

Qin Jie ascended the throne while still young. Cold-hearted and ruthless, he seized complete control of the government in just a few years.

The two Empress Dowagers schemed endlessly to place people at his side for their own benefit.

The Empress Dowager Hua, his adoptive mother, mistook a wanted poster for a portrait of a beauty and hoped to have that “beauty” seduce him.

Qin Jie was deeply amused by the notion. The younger sister of his enemy had delivered herself right into his hands, and of course he would not let her go...

When the time was right, he would kill her.

Yet whenever those clear, limpid eyes turned toward him, they were always timid, and she would often say foolishly, “Your Majesty is such a good person.”

Before departing on his northern tour,

Qin Jie lowered his eyes to the young woman beneath him, whose heart and gaze were wholly fixed on him. For once, his usual coldness softened. His long fingers stroked her temples, damp with fragrant sweat, as if granting her a reward. His expression held a trace of tenderness. “Wait for me to return.”

Blushing, she nodded obediently, sweet and docile.

A little over a month later, snow raged and the wind howled.

He received an urgent secret letter from the capital in the dead of night. His jade-white hand clenched into a fist.

In an instant, the letter burned to ash, reflected in his bloodthirsty phoenix eyes.

Hah. She fell off a cliff and died...

-

The melodies of Yuanxiang were beautiful, its people blessed by nature.

Mu Sheng earned money to support herself by serving as a substitute musician at a music house, while searching for her brother.

But her good fortune did not last. One day, when Mu Sheng returned home after work, she found her little courtyard surrounded inside and out by solemn soldiers carrying swords.

The portrait she had drawn of her brother had been torn to shreds.

At that moment, the tall, noble figure turned around. His deep gaze fixed on her, closing in around her like a nightmare.

As the man strode toward her, Mu Sheng's small face filled with terror. She trembled and backed away.

The emperor's palm burned as he gripped her waist, his force seeming to crush her whole body. His voice was edged with fury. “No one has ever dared to toy with me like this. Tell me, Sheng'er, should I kill you...”

P.S.:

1. An amalgam of fictional dynasties, with plenty of authorial inventions and melodrama.

2. A romance focused solely on the two leads. The male lead is sexually and emotionally faithful, with no harem. The heroine will have some physical contact, such as hand-holding and embraces, with a male supporting character.

◆ A powerful man and a vulnerable woman, with a major difference in status. Quite angsty, but with a happy ending.

(The blurb doesn't tell the whole story. Both leads suffer.)

3. The leads are five years apart in age. At the start, he is 21 and she is 16. The heroine is a beautiful, kind, fragile little white flower. The male lead is no good person. Once he falls for her, he becomes abnormally possessive and later turns into a love-struck, groveling puppy.

4. There are some rivalry-for-the-heroine scenes that make the male lead jealous and furious.

5. Fictional characters' values do not represent the author's values. Love and Peace.

Theme: No matter what situation you're in, cherish yourself and keep living. There is always hope.