The Daily Life of a Bedchamber Maid Turned Imperial Consort

Lin Qingdai was born with a lovely appearance, but she was neither a noblewoman from an official's family nor a peasant girl struggling to survive. She was a maid in the Prince An's Mansion in the capital. Her father was an assistant steward, her mother managed the main kitchen, and her older brother served as a personal attendant to the mansion's sixth young master. They were all respectable members of the household. When Lin Qingdai was ten, Princess Consort An selected her to be trained as a bedchamber maid. Six girls were chosen in all, including her. One of them fell into the water and, after waking, started talking about equality for all. But she was also secretly getting involved with Prince An, and was beaten to death for it. Lin Qingdai didn't want to be beaten to death, so she chose to behave herself. At sixteen, she became a bedchamber maid to the mansion's second young master. The second young master, Shen Wencheng, was as graceful as a plant of jade and treated her fairly well. The Second Madam came from a family of equal standing to his, and had been raised from childhood to be a household mistress. She disdained doing anything to the concubines and bedchamber maids. So Lin Qingdai lived out her quiet little life in the inner courtyard. She had no grand ambitions, and was content just to go from bedchamber maid to concubine. At sixteen, she went from maid to bedchamber maid. Half a year later, she went from bedchamber maid to concubine. Many years passed, and she was still a concubine, but she had borne a son and a daughter, giving her something to rely on for the rest of her life. She'd thought her days would simply pass by until the end of her life. But the emperor had few heirs, and the only prince ever named crown prince had died of illness. After considering the candidates, the emperor chose to adopt Shen Wencheng and make him crown prince. When one person rises to power, even their family and followers benefit. Just like that, Lin Qingdai became the crown prince's concubine, and seemed poised to become one of the imperial consorts. Only then did she belatedly wonder whether she should compete for favor. But she was naturally quiet, and watching the Crown Princess and the two secondary consorts battle it out, she knew that getting involved could easily destroy her. So she decided to keep on lying flat! As it turned out, her contentment and good behavior pleased the empress, who took her place in the central palace. When assigning the initial ranks, the empress promoted her from Noble Lady to Concubine, then later spoke in her favor and had her elevated to Consort. She quietly endured the passing years, and eventually became Noble Consort. Reader's Guide: The heroine is a native of this world. She never fights for favor, but she isn't someone people can bully either. She'll take action to deal with anything that threatens her. Theme: Live well.