After Being Reborn, I Married My Archrival

This story has been revised many times. The final version is the one on the official Jinjiang site.

Blurb:

Before Qun Qing died, she hated the powerful minister Lu Huating most of all. She hated his cunning and treachery as he helped the new emperor secure the throne. She thought about him day and night and tried everything she could, but she still couldn't beat him. In the end, she became a casualty at his hands.

After Qun Qing died, she saw the fallen princess she'd given her life to protect, weeping as she nestled against the new emperor's chest. “Qingqing is dead. What am I supposed to do?”

The new emperor kissed her. “Nothing will happen to you. You only need to love me.”

The princess's tears fell like rain, and she looked like a delicate flower in the storm. “Now that Qingqing is dead, I have only Your Majesty.”

Qun Qing opened her eyes and woke up three years earlier. She got to her feet and mechanically packed her things. Ignoring the princess's attempts to stop her, she pulled off her jade crown and belt, set down her wooden official seal, and walked away. She left behind ten years of careful planning and ten years of living on a knife's edge.

Restore the fallen kingdom? To hell with that.

*

The powerful minister Lu Huating was calculating and ruthless, unstoppable in the maelstrom of power. After seeing enough of the ugliness in people's hearts, he found life dull and meaningless.

Looking back on his life, the only person who made much of an impression on him was a female spy and palace official he had poisoned to death at the age of twenty-six.

She had devoted herself body and soul to a princess with her head in the clouds, and plotted against him several times. In the end, she knelt in the summer palace, her expression unchanged, her eyes full of resentment, and smiled as she sighed, “The victor becomes king, and the loser is condemned.” Then she tipped her head back and drank the poison. A thin trickle of bright red blood spilled from her lips.

Lu Huating opened his eyes and returned to the age of twenty-three.

Looking at the documents before him, Lu Huating felt even more bored. He dropped his pen and leaned back in his chair. “What about the female official who serves the Crown Princess?”

“...She resigned. She asked me to pass on a message: she's done fighting.”

Lu Huating fell silent. After a long moment, he curled his lip coldly. “She says she's done fighting, so that's it?”

*Blurb captured for the record on 2019.11.01

Reader's notes:

1. Both leads are formidable, but the heroine is the primary protagonist. The second, third, and fourth male characters may have unrequited feelings for her. Read with caution if that bothers you.

2. Some ensemble elements. Both leads get a fair amount of space to pursue their ambitions.

3. The main couple are rivals who love and hate each other, with plenty of push and pull. The romance is sweet, but with the male lead in the more submissive role.

4. This is my first attempt at a historical palace romance. Romance takes priority, and there isn't much political intrigue.

Theme: Different positions lead to different motives for action.