Shen Yuchu loved her husband, Song Heng, and sold her dowry to support his studies for the civil service exams.
But Song Heng doted on his concubine and neglected his wife, forcing her to please the emperor.
Heartbroken and humiliated, she threw herself into the river to end her life.
Only after waking did she learn that she was merely a cannon-fodder supporting character in a TV drama from a parallel world.
It turned out the emperor wanted to sleep with her only to test whether Song Heng would willingly act like a dog. Once he had served his purpose, the emperor planned to kill him.
At that moment, Shen Yuchu had just heard Song Heng plead ingratiatingly, "My dear, tonight really does affect my career. Please agree. I swear I won't let you down!"
Then bullet comments appeared in her mind:
[The emperor saw palace maids and eunuchs pairing off when he was young. He's had a cleanliness obsession and impotence ever since, so even if Madam Song agrees, it'll be pointless.]
[They say a palace maid once discovered that drinking tea and wine together gets the emperor drunk, but she didn't dare climb into his bed. The screenwriter needs to answer for this!]
Shen Yuchu immediately smiled and agreed. "I'll prepare to receive His Majesty."
Through the bullet comments, Shen Yuchu learned that Emperor Fu Changqin had emerged victorious from the princes' struggle for the throne. He was unfathomably calculating, with a heart set only on supreme power.
That night, Fu Changqin experienced for the first time the pleasures of sex. After rising to change clothes, he even said something unprecedented to the eunuch attending him: "Stay."
Wasn't this drama supposed to have no female lead? This is such a satisfying twist!]
[Will Fu Changqin take her back to the palace? He's so cold and heartless, such a dog. Is he going to abandon the mother after the child is born?]
Shen Yuchu watched Fu Changqin's imposing back, calmly closed her eyes, and went back to sleep. From now on, she would live only for herself.
At first, Fu Changqin saw Shen Yuchu as nothing more than a tool to cure his affliction, with the intention of keeping the child and abandoning the mother.
He never expected her to be different from the concubines in his harem. She never tried to please him, yet he couldn't stop thinking about her.
Later, the emperor's decree naming her empress spread through every street and alley.
Kneeling among the officials who had come to congratulate them, Song Heng watched in fear as the emperor himself walked down the jade steps, took Shen Yuchu's hand, and led her up to the throne.
Shen Yuchu glanced back without a care. The coldness in her eyes left him too terrified to eat or sleep.
Theme: Take control of your own fate
