The Golden Palace Binds the Immortal

[Starting at 300 favorites: a tragic romance of love and hatred, coercive possession, and an emperor taking his minister's wife. The outline is finished, and I'll begin drafting the full novel over the May Day holiday.] The night the new emperor Xiao Che murdered the sovereign and seized the throne, he also killed her childhood sweetheart and husband. After the imperial city was drenched in blood, Xiao Che's eyes settled on her among the trembling wives of condemned officials: Wang Miaozhen, wife of Li Cheng, Grand Tutor of the previous dynasty. The man stood astride his horse, clad in black armor soaked with blood and holding a blade. Looking at the tearful beauty in the corner, he gave a sly smile. "That pedantic fool Li Cheng certainly knew how to hide a treasure." By imperial decree, she was not sent to the Music Bureau. Instead, she was graciously sent to cultivate at the royal Taoist temple, Yuqing Abbey. The world praised the new emperor's benevolence for sparing the chastity of a disgraced minister's family. Only Wang Miaozhen knew the truth: the scriptures and green lamps were a pretext, and her Taoist robes were a prisoner's uniform. The emperor who came to the abbey night after night and dismissed everyone was not there to seek the Dao. He came to shatter her memories, piece by piece, and tame her into a caged bird. But she refused to bow her head. Since there was no way forward in the mortal world, she would borrow a path from heaven. At the Zhongnan sacrificial altar, under the gaze of the assembled people, she offered herself as a sacrifice, bringing forth a vision that shook heaven and earth. Golden light crowned the sky, celestial music sounded faintly, and the beautiful woman with skin like ice and bones like jade danced in fluttering robes, as if a true immortal were about to ascend on a rainbow. The literary world was shaken. Hundreds of poems praised her purity, calling her the immortal maiden of Yuqing descended to the mortal realm. But the world did not know that hidden in the golden light of her ascension were the black iron arrowheads of the emperor's personal guards. When the signs of her ascension faded, deep in the innermost reaches of the imperial palace, the emperor gripped her slender waist, as delicate as an immortal's, and forced her onto the imperial bed. His breath was scorching. "Everyone praises the immortal maiden for being free of desire... Miaomiao, do you think I can make you fall back to earth tonight?" From then on: The golden bells rang, binding her immortal bones. If she refused food for a day, he would execute one of the Li family's former pupils. She bit his lip until it bled and cursed him as a tyrant. He licked the bead of blood away, then chuckled as he dictated an imperial edict to the court historian: "The gods appeared in a dream and said that Lady Wang's fate is precious. She must enter the palace every night and receive the emperor's favor to secure the foundations of the state." A tragic romance of love and hatred A cold, stubborn cultivation heroine who will never bow X a mad emperor who seized the throne by murdering his sovereign and forced his minister's wife Reader's guide: * A story in the vein of "don't pick up strange men by the roadside" * Strong male lead, weak female lead. The male lead is a bastard, completely deranged and inhuman * The heroine is resilient and unyielding, and keeps trying to live her life well * No fantasy elements. The character concepts were inspired by real historical figures from the Ming Dynasty One-on-one pairing. The heroine has no sexual experience; the hero is not a virgin. Fictional setting, not historically accurate. Theme: Never compromise!