I Became Empress After My Engagement Was Broken

[My next novel, Taking a Concubine in Exchange, is in my author profile. Please add it to your reading list QAQ~]

Gu Lianrong had skin as fair as snow and beauty like a flower. She looked born to be a femme fatale, and she had a promising fiancé.

After sixteen smooth-sailing years, she was suddenly dumped.

They said Prince Liang had fallen in love with her at first sight, gone to great lengths to make her break off her engagement, and even asked the emperor to arrange their marriage.

After a long pause, the emperor raised his eyes and sneered. “She's nothing but a pretty face. Does that make even my imperial brother adore her so much? I won't approve it.”

Once the news spread, the noble young ladies of the capital all laughed at her, eager to see her make a fool of herself.

Dumped at her age and publicly loathed by the emperor, what kind of future could Gu Lianrong possibly have?

Prince Liang kept pressing her, but Gu Lianrong had no desire to marry him. Just then, the palace selection began.

Her maternal grandfather and father worried themselves gray, and had no choice but to appeal to the emperor.

The emperor casually suggested:

Why not have Gu Lianrong enter the palace to lie low, then, after a few years, have her “die of illness” and leave the palace?

Gu Lianrong had no other option, so she entered the palace.

Rather than being forced to marry Prince Liang, she would rather go into the palace, spend her time growing flowers and feeding birds, and wait to leave. What could be better?

On the day of the selection, Gu Lianrong wasn't nervous at all. She stood by the river watching the koi, until someone shoved her from behind and sent her tumbling into the water.

No one could have expected the emperor, who was rumored to loathe her, to suddenly appear when she was pushed into the water. Not only did he pull her out, he also stood up for her and severely punished the people who had been secretly targeting her.

Gu Lianrong: “...?”

The noble young ladies of the capital who had been waiting to see her humiliated waited and waited. In the end, all they saw was Gu Lianrong showered with favor, rising through the ranks until she became empress. The emperor even disbanded his harem, leaving only her.

And so they spent the rest of their lives in love, growing old together.

That night.

The girl, just recovering from a serious illness, had a pale little face. She said earnestly, “A low-ranking title is fine. You don't have to make me a consort.”

The emperor sat at her bedside and replied casually, “A higher rank means no one will bully you.”

“Oh...” The girl looked at him in confusion, then smiled up at him. “Thank you for going to all that trouble, Your Majesty.”

The emperor said coolly, “I was only doing someone a favor.”

The girl snuggled under the covers, smiling like a flower in bloom. “Thank you, Your Majesty. I'll just wait to leave the palace, then.”

The emperor suddenly smiled but said nothing, concealing the darkness in his eyes.

What if you never get to leave?

[A sweet, naive heroine who walks right into a trap X a cool, aloof emperor who hides his feelings]

P.S. 1. 1v1, happy ending, both leads are each other's one and only.

2. Set in an imaginary dynasty.

[My next novel, Taking a Concubine in Exchange, is coming soon. Please add it to your reading list ovo~]

In the spring of the twentieth year of the Da Qing era, the enemy nation was defeated, and Princess Jiaxi became the crown prince's lowly concubine.

Prince Qin could not sleep at night. He wasted away until he proposed an exchange of concubines.

Nan Se was the concubine who got exchanged.

Nan Se had always thought she was the heroine of an underdog's comeback story.

Her father didn't love her, and her mother didn't care for her. Before she came of age, she was sold to a brothel. Fortunately, her first client was Prince Qin.

Prince Qin brought her into his residence, gave her fine silks and brocades so she would never want for food or clothing, and even made her a favored concubine.

He told her that even if a princess consort entered his household, she must never be allowed to mistreat Nan Se.

Prince Qin was a truly good man. Nan Se knew that.

So when he asked her to seduce the crown prince, make him fall for her, and persuade him to exchange her for Princess Jiaxi so the princess could be free,

Nan Se hesitated for only a moment before agreeing.

A concubine is a concubine, no matter whose household she's in. It made no difference.

The crown prince, Tan Yuan, was born amid celestial omens. Rumor had it he was the reincarnation of a Buddha who had cultivated for countless lifetimes. The people praised him as fair and selfless, serene and untainted, and said he never went near women.

So when the crown prince agreed to exchange concubines, everyone assumed he was acting out of compassion, taking pity on a pair of star-crossed lovers.

Nan Se thought so, too.

After all, no matter what happened in bed, outside it the crown prince's eyes, black as ink, were always calm, as if nothing could ever stir him.

So when Prince Qin went to great lengths to send her a secret message asking to see her, Nan Se agreed without hesitation.

That night, countless golden-armored guards stood watch, and Prince Qin's pale, panicked face stood out under the bright lights.

He shouted that he wasn't trying to rebel, staring intently at Nan Se as he insisted that he wanted her exchanged back to him.

The crown prince seemed to notice the hesitation on Nan Se's face.

After a moment, he narrowed his eyes and smiled. “You want to exchange concubines again? Then you can trade your head for her.”

P.S. 1. The heroine is a woman, the male lead is a man. The male lead is the crown prince.

2. The heroine is not strong-willed. There will be a little forced possession later on oio

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Theme: May we find one true love and grow old together.