Ballad of the Palace

[Blurb]

◆She and he are conspirators and rivals, lovers and enemies, sovereign and subject, and family◆

When they first met, he was the lofty crown prince of the Chen Kingdom, cool and elegant as the bright moon.

She had come as an accompanying concubine to her elder sister, without even a title of her own.

“My name is Hehua. The star Yaoguang shines in the Chen sky, and the Yuan River has its lotus flowers.”

Those few words brought together two people who had been strangers.

Later, after her elder sister's death, she took her place as a substitute and danced a breathtaking dance, finally rising to become queen. But she was framed by villains and spent a night with the crown prince.

At a critical moment, he took all the blame for her. He was condemned for treason, stripped of his title, and exiled to the border.

Yet on the eve of his exile, he lowered his voice and gazed at her with eyes clear as water.

“I will never regret what happened under the influence of the love poison. Take care.”

She thought it was all over, but then the King of Chen was assassinated, and her position as queen was suddenly in jeopardy. After much deliberation, she decided to join forces with the deposed crown prince and help him return to the capital.

Forbidden love grew wildly in the repressive palace, but...

The moment their love broke free, the King of Chen awoke.

On the night the phoenix bridal carriage headed for Zhaoyang Hall, a man stood in the passageway with a sword in hand, his eyes like cold stars.

“Do you truly want to win His Majesty's favor again?”

“What does it matter if I am favored or not? The women in Zichen Palace are like tumbleweeds, with no say over their own fate.”

“And Your Highness? As crown prince, what can you do?”

“It's fate. We are all just birds in a cage.”

He let go in despair. “I understand.”

Turn the enemy against himself, use a beauty trap, deceive the heavens to cross the sea, and kill with a borrowed knife.

Amid these blue-tiled roofs and vermilion halls, stained with who knows how much blood, they are both rivals and conspirators.

At last, at the new emperor's enthronement ceremony, they gaze at each other from afar. He lifts the corners of his lips and kneels to pay his respects.

“Your humble subject wishes Your Majesty peace and good health, and a reign of ten thousand years.”

Yet when he rises, he silently mouths to her:

“It has only just begun, Empress Dowager.”

#A captivating little queen x a cool, calculating deposed crown prince#

#How she rises from concubine to empress#

#How he goes from heir apparent to her devoted subject#

#A proud beauty bends for love#

Content warnings:

1. The heroine has had previous partners, while the hero is inexperienced. A tragic, tempestuous romance.

2. Loosely inspired by the Warring States period. The heroine will ultimately pursue the path to becoming empress in her own right.

3. The romance and plot make up a 40/60 split, with greater emphasis on the heroine's growth.

A related story, A Thousand Autumns, is currently being serialized. Add it to your reading list if you're interested!

Theme: Rediscover your true self.