Everyday Life in the Zhong Family

New historical romance: The Little Everyday Life of the Prefect's Household One-line blurb: A bandit-struck father, a heartbroken mother, an elder brother who became a monk, and her, alone and bereft. Blurb: Zhong Cui is a noble marquis's legitimate-born daughter, but her father doesn't care for her and her mother doesn't love her. No matter, Zhong Cui knows she'll enter the palace one day and give birth to the next emperor. Those people can jump around all they like. Sooner or later, they'll all be prostrate at her feet, crying, "Long live the Empress Dowager!" Even if it's only in front of her memorial tablet! In this life, Zhong Cui has gained the ability to read minds. It doesn't matter that she lived in poverty in her last life; she'll have a glorious future this time. All she has to do is stop her child from turning dark and becoming a gambler who uses the whole nation as his game board. He was ignored and raised in cold indifference after his birth mother died in the palace. Zhong Cui has it all planned out. She'll change him with love, help him see the light, and let him grow up happily in a loving fantasy before inheriting the throne. Everything went just as Zhong Cui planned, until her child gradually turned dark despite all that love. Zhong Cui had no choice but to change course and win over the people who sought to oppose her and her son. Wen Yan rose to the throne through a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood. He was ruthless and merciless, and everyone feared him. He had once been usurped by his half-brother and hated anyone who overstepped their station. Everyone in Yue knew that the current emperor valued rules above all and upheld the distinction between legitimate and illegitimate birth. That is, until the first illegitimate-born palace maiden appeared in his harem. Content warnings: The novel is now behind an anti-piracy paywall. Don't ask whether the heroine is a virgin. The heroine enters the palace at first for reasons other than love. Theme: Even when placed at a disadvantage, one need not submit to fate. Even a clinging vine can have the determination to fight for a better life.