Her Majesty the Consort Is in the Emperor's Favor

Because of her beautiful face, Meng Lingshu caught the eye of the chief eunuch in the Palace Administration Department.

She refused him, and for the next month, she and her younger sister suffered terribly. Even getting a full meal became an impossible dream.

She refused to spend the rest of her life this way.

One day, she happened to hear that the emperor had favored a dancer from the Imperial Music Bureau and granted her a rank.

Meng Lingshu began to consider the possibility.

As she had hoped, things went fairly smoothly.

Meng Lingshu was granted a rank and became one of the emperor’s consorts.

Within two years, she was promoted to Consort despite having no children, and became the most favored woman in the harem.

At the height of her favor, the emperor bestowed upon Consort Meng the title “Li,” meaning a loving, devoted couple.

One afternoon in late spring, early summer, in the third year of Jingyou, Zhao Cong saw Meng Lingshu for the first time.

Her plain clothes and simple hairpin could not conceal her stunning beauty. Zhao Cong stared, momentarily entranced, and the woman seemed to sense his gaze and looked back.

Her eyes were like limpid autumn waters, utterly captivating.

The second time he saw her, the woman had been punished by Consort Yun and made to kneel in the imperial garden. Under the blazing summer sun, she knelt on uneven stones, her face frighteningly pale.

Zhao Cong walked up to her. Gathering her courage, she caught hold of his robe and spoke as if summoning every last bit of strength she had. “I beg Your Majesty... have mercy on me.”

The woman collapsed before him.

Zhao Cong took her away without hesitation.

She was clever and knew how to please him.

During the months she served as a palace maid before him, her performance had satisfied him greatly.

From then on, the palace no longer had a maid named Shu'er. In her place was a consort deeply favored by the emperor.

He loved her beauty and coveted the few moments of pleasure she gave him in bed. She got the wealth and glory she wanted.

Zhao Cong thought it was a fair arrangement.

Until one day, he learned that she had once been mutually in love with someone else, and had even been engaged to him.

He granted her leave to visit her family, only to see her smiling at another man, her eyes crinkling with joy.

It was a sincerity Zhao Cong had never seen on her face before.

As memories came flooding back, he could only think how false she was, and how irritating.

#He thought he wanted her, only to realize in the end that he wanted her heart#

[Blurb posted on February 11; screenshot saved.]

[Shu'er was the name the heroine used while she was a palace maid.]

P.S. The blurb says they only met twice, but in the actual story they meet more than twice.

A harem-intrigue story. The male lead is not sexually inexperienced.

Rank chart:

First Rank, Upper: Noble Consort, Virtuous Consort, Worthy Consort, Sagacious Consort

First Rank, Lower: Lady

Second Rank, Upper: Consort

Second Rank, Lower: Lady of Bright Deportment, Lady of Bright Countenance, Lady of Bright Beauty, Lady of Cultivated Deportment, Lady of Cultivated Countenance, Lady of Cultivated Beauty, Lady of Full Deportment, Lady of Full Countenance, Lady of Full Beauty

Third Rank, Upper: Noble Concubine

Third Rank, Lower: Beautiful Lady

Fourth Rank, Upper: Lady of Grace

Fourth Rank, Lower: Lady of Graceful Deportment, Lady of Fragrant Deportment, Lady of Delicate Deportment, Lady of Virtuous Deportment

Fifth Rank, Upper: Concubine

Fifth Rank, Lower: Lady of Fine Beauty, Lady of Fine Conduct, Lady of Lesser Beauty, Lady of Lesser Deportment

Sixth Rank, Upper: Noble Lady

Sixth Rank, Lower: Beauty

Seventh Rank, Upper: Lady of Constant Attendance

Seventh Rank, Lower: Lady of Promise

Eighth Rank, Upper: Lady of Beauty

Eighth Rank, Lower: Lady of Gathering Beauty

Lowest Ninth Rank: Palace Lady

Anyone of Third Rank or higher, including Third Rank, is the principal consort of a palace and may raise imperial children.

(With special permission, a lower-ranking woman may raise them too.)

Theme: A soft heart is where love begins