Has the Chancellor Knelt on the Washboard Today?

Liu Rumei, the only daughter of a second-rank minister of the Board of Rites and a niece of the Chancellor. At nineteen, she was peerless in beauty and talent, with a reputation that filled the capital.

Her father let her choose her own husband. Suitors filled their doorstep, but she turned them all away.

As she neared the end of the age for marriage, everyone said she would marry her childhood sweetheart, her cousin. But she fell for Shen Bufu at first sight, the newly appointed top scholar who had passed all three imperial examinations with the highest honors.

Shen Bufu was the Chancellor's most prized student, born to humble origins and blessed with stunning looks.

She willingly broke off her engagement and married a low-ranking official, becoming the laughingstock of the entire capital.

On their wedding night, he didn't even lift her veil. "I appreciate your affection, but my heart belongs to another. I had no choice but to comply under pressure." Then he slept in his study.

She got him drunk and forced the wedding rites upon him, and became pregnant as a result.

Later, when he was demoted to a remote county, she endured a rough journey and gave birth to a son. She thought they'd grow to love each other over time, but she didn't know that he'd married her solely for power, from beginning to end.

The new emperor ascended the throne, and in just three years Shen Bufu replaced the Chancellor. Minister Liu and Chancellor Tao were both imprisoned. Liu Rumei finally understood: he had personally gathered evidence against her uncle, bringing down her entire family.

She was exiled, and he took her child away. Years of marriage came to nothing but a divorce decree.

On the road to exile, she sought shelter in a Daoist temple and died unexpectedly in a fire.

Then she was reborn.

She returned to the day she first met Shen Bufu. The spring breeze was just as gentle, his features just as handsome.

This time, she was determined not to marry him.

She resolutely entered the palace to serve the crown prince. He was weak and incompetent, with a hidden ailment that left him impotent. Once he became emperor, she would have no place to stand if she had no children. After much thought, she had only one option: to find a man to father her child.

She summoned Shen Bufu in secret. It was supposedly a measure of expediency, but in truth, she couldn't forget him.

She drugged the emperor to create the illusion that he had spent the night with her, and successfully gave birth to a prince. Thanks to her extraordinary intelligence and noble birth, she was soon appointed empress. She took charge of the harem while involving herself in court affairs, and faced Shen Bufu as a bitter political enemy.

Everyone knew the Chancellor and Empress were at odds. No one knew he was the prince's true father.

She saved her family.

She took charge of state affairs, ruled from behind the curtain, and secretly cultivated a network of informants. Only then did she gradually learn Shen Bufu's true identity: he was a prince of the previous dynasty, renowned for his precocious wisdom. His own men had rebelled, and the imperial family had been slaughtered. He had escaped by sheer luck and wandered the streets, where she had saved him as a young child.

The emperor was unfit to rule and preyed on the people. Everyone knew he had no rightful claim to the throne, and in secret, they longed for the previous dynasty.

As the empress's power grew, the emperor decided to strike first and eliminate Liu Rumei.

She and Shen Bufu made peace and joined forces to kill the emperor. He gave her his full support and helped her ascend the throne as empress regnant.

Her first decree as ruler brought the Chancellor into her harem.

The world was shaken.

--

He was the last surviving member of the previous dynasty. He entered public service only to usurp the throne and avenge his family and country.

She was the one variable he hadn't accounted for.

When he ransacked her home in his previous life, he found her old poetry manuscripts and learned that she was the woman who had once saved him: the beloved he'd never been able to forget.

And her uncle was the very man who had devised the scheme to overthrow the previous dynasty and have his entire family executed.

Yet he had fallen in love with her.

He secretly protected her on the road to exile, rescuing her from danger time and time again. When the Daoist temple where she had taken shelter caught fire, he went to search for her himself, but found only her old wooden zither.

Reduced to a shadow of himself, he raised their child alone and swore never to marry again.

But the emperor, a schemer, discovered his restoration plans first. He used Shen Bufu to lure out forces resentful of the new dynasty, then executed him on charges of treason.

His final wish before death was to see her one more time.

When he opened his eyes, he was back at the spring banquet, surrounded by peach blossoms and gentle breezes. The green peach blossoms atop the wall shone brilliantly, but not as brightly as her eyes.

This time, he swore to give her all his love. But his attempts to approach her and show his affection were met only with her coldness and distance.

What hurt him even more was that Liu Rumei rejected his proposal and married into the imperial family.

He proceeded carefully, protecting her and looking after her while maintaining the appearance of a political rival. He secretly sent her intelligence from the court. He didn't even know who the child appointed crown prince was really descended from.

He warned her of the emperor's suspicions, helped her rule from behind the curtain, and used the old dynasty's forces at his back to aid her in secret, bringing down the treacherous emperor.

After she ascended the throne, Shen Bufu could only stare helplessly at her, now surrounded by consorts in all three palaces and six courtyards.

The matrons instructed him on how to serve his sovereign, and he accepted with a bitter smile. When ordered to spend the night with her, he had just one task:

Kneel on the washboard.

Only after he had knelt for thirty full days did the empress emerge from behind the curtain. She raised his chin with her slender hand.

"Chancellor, are you still thinking about your beloved?"

So she knew everything.

He grabbed her wrist and, in an act of treason, pulled her close. Staring at her vivid red lips, he spoke with dark eyes.

"Your Majesty, who else could my beloved be but you?"

Theme: A love-struck reborn man gets down to business