The Jade-Waisted Slave

"The empress's harem has thirteen palaces like golden cages. The gentlemen who live within them are all paragons of grace, handsome as Pan An. They wear only white robes and play the same tune day after day. They say Her Majesty is searching for someone." "Who?" "Someone who cannot be named. His name is a taboo in the imperial city, one no one dares speak." "Did she find him?" "No. But ever since the new commander of the Duroong Bureau took office, Her Majesty has stopped searching for him." "The commander of the Duroong Bureau? That ruthless butcher who came from the slave camp, the one who kills without blinking?" "Shh! Say that and you'll lose your head." "Honeyed words, golden-winged messengers; flower thieves, jade-waisted slaves." [Before being reborn: A sinister, brutal emperor x a fair and beautiful little princess] [After being reborn: An obsessive, sickly commander x a ruthless empress] [Coercive love / a long road to winning her back / the male lead suffers, and it's satisfying / dark and sweet] [Warnings] * One-on-one, both sexually inexperienced, happy ending, reborn. * A long road to winning her back, with plenty of suffering for the male lead. * Coercive love, obsessive and unhinged (yes, it's exactly the melodramatic kind of coercive love you're thinking of!). * The blurb was slapped together; it describes a scene after the heroine is reborn and becomes empress. * The verse is from Qing Yi Lu, "Flower Thief." (Blurb dated 2020/11/9) Theme: An eye for an eye