The Emperor's Favor in the Cage

Rong Xi grew up in a Buddhist temple. Even after entering the palace as a consort, she often kept company with the Buddha and incense. She was pure of heart above all.

The two most rebellious things she ever did were, first, to help Wei Jingshuo claim the throne legitimately by carrying a supposed imperial decree from the late emperor, after Wei Jingshuo threatened and bribed her, and second, to be forced to give herself to the new emperor in order to survive.

By day, the new emperor and Rong Xi seemed like a loving mother and son. Though he had slaughtered the late emperor's entire harem, he alone treated her with the utmost kindness. He even made her Empress Dowager, and whenever she fell ill, the new emperor would personally tend to her bedside. His ministers praised him: “The emperor is filial!”

Yet at night, a small sedan chair would carry her into the Hall of Mental Cultivation. Amid the tangled sheets, the word “Mother” would make Rong Xi, lost in their lovemaking, snap instantly back to her senses. The culprit, meanwhile, would only tease her and grow more brazen.

Wei Jingshuo liked Rong Xi's restrained, self-controlled manner, especially in bed.

Later, when the new emperor chose consorts, Rong Xi knew she was nothing more than a diversion for him, and that someone of her station could no longer remain in the palace.

At that time, rumors spread through the palace that the Empress Dowager was debauched and had an affair with a monk. They said she had disgraced the royal family and deserved death. Before the execution edict could arrive, Rong Xi jumped from Zhaohua Gate.

The new emperor was holding his wedding ceremony when the news reached him. Neither pleased nor saddened, he slaughtered everyone in the harem. Not one person who had ever slandered the Empress Dowager survived. The court was swept up in a storm of bloodshed.

In the darkness of night, unseen by anyone, he held the woman's corpse and turned white-haired in a single night.

Until the day the chancellor married, when the sovereign, supreme ruler of the realm, abducted the bride before the ceremony could begin and took her into the palace. The ruler had stolen his minister's wife, and the whole world was in an uproar.

The emperor, who had regained his most precious treasure, gazed at the woman before him, eyes red, and called out, “Xi'er, you're back!”

P.S. 1v1, both leads are sexually inexperienced. She is his stepmother in name only; they are not blood-related, and their relationship is similar to an uncle and niece.

2. The male and female leads have an eight-year age gap. He is 24, and she is 16.

3. Includes a groveling-for-forgiveness arc.

Cover image source: Bishui.

Theme: World peace.