The Eunuch and the Treacherous Consort (Reborn)

[New direction: this is an extremely melodramatic novel. Readers who usually need trigger warnings may find it uncomfortable. In short, it's a novel that dances through a minefield.] From the female lead's perspective, this is the story of a black lotus rising to power. The male lead is reborn. [Original synopsis, being revised] The emperor deposed the empress, and the inner court was turned upside down overnight. The empress's supporters in the Directorate of Ceremonial Affairs were utterly defeated, and the Yu clan fell into decline. The newly appointed Chief Eunuch, Xu You, held immense power and was the most influential man of the moment. He was ruthless, yet had refined and handsome features. There was no shortage of people who offered themselves to his bed. Even the deposed empress's niece stooped to becoming his bedmate, asking only that he protect her family. People said Yu Yan was beautiful as ice and jade, gentle in speech, and, most importantly, her deposed aunt was a bitter enemy of Noble Consort Chen. Xu You taking her as a bedmate would kill two birds with one stone. But half a year later, the emperor frequently visited the Chief Eunuch's private residence, spending long days in pleasure. Only then did the harem learn that the so-called bedmate was no more than a plaything Xu You had presented to the emperor. After Yu Yan deliberately seduced the emperor for the first time, she turned around and saw Xu You standing beneath the flower shadows. He gave her a faint smile. "My lady, do you need someone to teach you even this?" She gradually became charming and ruthless, yet all she got in return was his casual remark: "Your Majesty, you still haven't done well enough." Yu Yan thought Xu You was a heartless man consumed by ambition, until the country was on the brink of collapse and he killed the new emperor atop the city gate, speaking with ringing conviction. Covered in guilt and wounds, he walked toward her and managed a difficult smile. "Yanyan, it's all right. No one can come between us now." She was the sword of beauty he had personally delivered to the emperor's bedside, and the haven of tenderness his eyes sought for the rest of his life. Potentially sensitive elements: 1. The female lead is the deposed empress's niece, and the emperor keeps her as a mistress. She has the usual ambitions of someone fighting her way up in the imperial harem. 2. The leads initially use each other, then fall in love over time. The male lead is a real jerk at first, but once he falls for her, he's a weepy little dog who fights for her attention. 3. This is a fictionalized Ming setting, and it includes a lover's suicide pact. Theme: Bravely resist feudal ethics