My Years as a Favorite Consort (Reborn)

Zhong Fangyi, the legitimate daughter of the Zhong family, had been a breathtaking beauty since childhood, and was known as a femme fatale. One day, she caught the emperor's eye. He ignored the fact that she was already betrothed and forcibly brought her into the palace. Furious, Zhong Fangyi decided she might as well become a real femme fatale. She monopolized the emperor's favor, kept him to herself, and bullied the women of the imperial harem. Yet in secret, she took contraceptive decoctions, refusing to bear that man a child. One day, the truth came out. The emperor flew into a thunderous rage, and she was left to languish in the depths of the palace. She died on a winter morning at the age of thirty-two. Her spirit became bound to her memorial tablet, and then she made a startling discovery: the emperor she had thought arrogant and heartless would come to her tablet late at night, when no one else was around, and stroke it as he muttered to himself, keeping her from finding any peace even in death. She awoke from a dream and found herself back at the age of sixteen. Since there was no escaping him either way, she might as well request entry into the palace herself and replay her life within its walls with all her experience intact. After she was selected to enter the palace, the eunuch on night duty brought the emperor's name plaques to the Hall of Mental Cultivation. Lin Su gazed at Zhong Fangyi's name in silence. Why had this woman come charging into his life on her own this time? Was he going to let her wreak havoc again? Reader's guide: In her previous life, the male lead was a terrible man who forcibly took the female lead. This time around, they start their romance from scratch. The female lead is calculating. She enters the palace purely for her own sake. The male lead truly loved the female lead in his previous life. Note: The male lead is an emperor with consorts, and he is not a virgin. At the start of this life, he doesn't remember his previous life. Whoever falls in love first loses. The emperor lost. * A villainess is reborn * She can't escape that man's grasp and ends up becoming empress A melodramatic palace romance Tears mixed with sugar, authentic palace intrigue Entirely fictional setting, imperial court modeled on the Qing dynasty Please don't nitpick historical details Theme: Even in adversity, women should be independent and strive for a better life