The Scheming Palace Maid's Rise to Power

[Please add the upcoming story Marrying Into a Humble Family to your collection] Chu'er is a palace maid who serves tea before the emperor. Plain-looking and slow-witted. One day, when the emperor was suffering from an unbearable headache, she risked her life by approaching him to attend to him. Her delicate, jade-like fingers, soft as though boneless, gently brushed across his forehead. Her pressure was just right, her massage skillful. The emperor turned to look at the maid. In the flickering candlelight, he saw that although she was plain-looking, she had a pair of clear, limpid almond-shaped eyes. After that one encounter, the emperor began to take notice of Chu'er. He saw how gentle and kind she was, never fighting or competing, like an orchid blooming in the mountains. As time went by, she found her way into his heart. On the day Chu'er was named Noble Consort, the emperor, who rarely smiled, embraced her like an inexperienced young man and said, "My heart is full of joy." Chu'er wore a serene smile and replied, "I will stay by Your Majesty's side for all time." Stay by his side. And send him to hell. Where he will never be reborn, for all eternity. [Content warnings]: The author has a history of ending stories poorly and is working to improve. 1. The female lead is a scheming woman. 2. The male lead is not a virgin. 3. The entire story is about palace intrigue. If that's not your thing, feel free to click away, but please don't insult anyone. 4. The second male lead gets the girl. ---------------------------Upcoming Story----------------------------------- Marrying Into a Humble Family [Highlights]: A sweet story of love after marriage + household intrigue, with a poor but refined male lead x a pampered, beautiful young lady [Blurb]: Before Noble Consort Su fell out of favor, Su Heshuo made quite a name for herself in the capital as the noble consort's niece. Though she had only entered the circle of the capital's high-born young ladies through family connections, at least she'd managed to get in, hadn't she? So when Noble Consort Su fell out of favor and the Duke of Cheng'en chose a poor scholar to be her husband, Su Heshuo was utterly devastated. But her parents had arranged the marriage, and she had no grounds to refuse. On the first day of her marriage to Shen Qingduan, Su Heshuo looked at the cramped new home, too small even for her dowry chests, and wept inwardly. On the tenth day of her marriage to Shen Qingduan, Su Heshuo's heart broke once more when she had to give up trying to talk to her mother-in-law because she couldn't even speak proper official Mandarin. On the hundredth day of her marriage to Shen Qingduan, her mother-in-law slaughtered the only few old hens in the household to nourish Su Heshuo during her pregnancy. Su Heshuo was speechless, overcome with emotion. A little warmth stirred in her heart. On the nine hundred and sixty-fifth day of her marriage to Shen Qingduan, he became prime minister. And she became the prime minister's wife. On the tenth anniversary of her marriage to Shen Qingduan, over those ten years, he had never taken a concubine or kept a maid as a bedmate. He had always been utterly devoted to her, never once saying no. When the Duke of Cheng'en married his legitimate daughter off to a poor scholar, everyone in the capital had waited to see him make a fool of himself. Su Heshuo, too, had been trampled into the dirt. But after the duke's poor son-in-law became prime minister, the people of the capital finally realized what a remarkable judge of character the Duke of Cheng'en was. Theme: Bloom into the most beautiful flower in adversity