Pearl in the Palm

[Complete. Next stories: "Jiao Rong" and "Pian Pian Wen Rou". Please add them to your reading list.]

During the Yongding era of the Southern Dynasty, the entire Zhonggong clan was exiled. Among them was five-year-old Crown Prince Qin Chen, whose brilliance could astonish the world.

At the same time, the Nanyang Prince's household adopted a new godson.

In the autumn of Chang Le's third year, Han Chen, the eldest son of the Nanyang Prince's household, launched a coup and bathed the imperial palace in blood. In the end, he successfully ascended the throne.

On the day the officials paid their respects, the emperor issued three imperial edicts. The first named Han Yue, the youngest legitimate daughter of the Nanyang Prince's household, as empress.

Everyone envied her, believing the emperor was repaying the Nanyang household for raising him.

The truth was that, on the brink of death years ago, Qin Chen had been saved by a young girl, and from then on he had regarded her as the moonlight in his heart.

But the girl already loved someone else.

On the night she was made empress, the beauty in his arms wept bitterly. “If you knew I loved someone else, why couldn't you let me go?”

Qin Chen tenderly kissed away her tears and said, word by word, “If you wanted me to let you go, you shouldn't have saved me.”

#She is the moonlight in his heart, the pearl in his palm. How could he let anyone else touch her?#

#Saving someone feels good in the moment, but later comes the crematorium#

Historical records say: From the day Emperor Chen ascended the throne, he never again visited any palace but the empress's.

A later note left this jest: “My darling, you saw someone else as your white moonlight, never knowing you had long been the pearl in my palm.”

[Reading Guide]:

1. The heroine has one-sided feelings for the second male lead.

2. The leads are not related by blood. The dynasty is fictional, so history buffs, please don't scrutinize it.

3. Both leads are each other's first and only. Check the author's notes for update times.

4. There is a side couple.

(Blurb posted October 13, 2020. Completed in June 2022. May be revised from time to time.)

Next story: "Jiao Rong". Please add it to your reading list.

Blurb:

In the third year of Yuanjia, the emperor decreed that the legitimate daughter of the Chief Councilor's household would marry Rong Yan, the eldest son of the foremost aristocratic clan.

The edict caused a stir among the two empress dowagers in the palace, as well as the legitimate princess born to the empress.

The reason was simple: Rong Yan, the eldest son of the foremost aristocratic clan, bore the hopes of both his clan and the imperial family. From birth, he had been the crown prince's study companion, a man of refined elegance who had earned the top honors in all three imperial examinations while still young.

The Chief Councilor's legitimate daughter, meanwhile, had no virtue beyond her breathtaking beauty.

That very day, the legitimate princess went to the emperor in tears.

The emperor looked at her without a word. “Your cousin asked for that edict himself.”

As a young man, Rong Yan often visited the Chief Councilor's residence and looked down on its pampered, adored legitimate daughter.

As the capital's foremost young gentleman, he could hardly approve of her arrogance or the way the whole world had to indulge her delicate airs.

Then he heard that the crown prince planned to choose the Chief Councilor's daughter as his crown princess.

Rong Yan panicked and, without hesitation, took the marriage for himself.

#Her girlish charm took root in my heart when we were young

From then on, her lovely face would rest in my arms#

Next story: "Furong Ye". Please add it to your reading list.

Blurb:

Everyone in the capital knew that Noble Consort Qin Yan came from a distinguished family and was unmatched in her beauty, making her the capital's foremost beauty.

Even more remarkable, she and the emperor had been childhood friends for years, and the moment she entered the palace, she became the object of his boundless affection.

The emperor granted every wish of the noble consort, and tales of their deep devotion spread among the people.

Until the third year of his reign, when an imperial edict naming a new empress was announced throughout the six palaces. The chosen woman was none other than Noble Consort Qin Yan's younger half-sister.

Rumors flew in every direction.

Only then did Qin Yan realize that the emperor had always loved her younger half-sister.

So, in the second year after the empress moved into the central palace, the noble consort, famed throughout the capital... died.

That night, the imperial study blazed with light.

The next day, the emperor abolished the six palaces with an iron hand, including the empress's position as head of the harem.

Only then did everyone realize that the noble consort had truly occupied the emperor's heart.

Theme: As long as you know what you want to do, there will always be a way forward. May you find what you seek after weathering every storm.