The Hibiscus Calamity

Blurb screenshotted on 2022.2.20

In the thirteenth year of Yuanping, the Seventh Prince, Li Chengze, was ordered to marry Shen Shuying, the female general of the court.

Li Chengze was the most useless prince in the palace. His birth mother had died young, the emperor despised him, and everyone felt free to kick him while he was down.

When he married that year, everyone mocked him.

He'd married a tigress.

Li Chengze had planned to maintain a polite distance from this tigress,

but somehow they really did become husband and wife.

Little by little, he became captivated by her and wanted them to love each other like an ordinary married couple. Then he discovered that this tigress already had someone in her heart.

At first, Shen Shuying asked him, "Do you want to be emperor?"

Li Chengze stammered and didn't answer.

Later, Shen Shuying "forced" him to climb step by step to the throne, and she became his empress.

He killed everyone who had bullied him, slowly grew into a capable ruler, and obtained everything he wanted. He also learned that the person in Shen Shuying's heart was his father, the emperor.

One night, he brought a new, delicate beauty before her to show off.

Shen Shuying sincerely congratulated him on getting what he wanted.

That night, the beauty was thrown out of the palace. Li Chengze went mad in front of her all night. She smiled at him calmly. "I gave up my military command, you got your wish and became emperor, and you have the beauty you love by your side. What are you unhappy about?"

He told her to willingly give up her position as empress.

She agreed.

After being deposed, Shen Shuying disappeared completely from the inner palace. No one knew whether she was alive or dead.

Night after night, when all was quiet, a woman sat beside the bed in the new emperor's chambers. She wore no expression, dressed by Li Chengze himself in soft, demure finery. He knelt at her feet, eyes red, and begged, "Sister, could you look at me one more time?"

An intensely melodramatic story. The male lead is shameless and impossible, ready to live or die for the heroine, a love-struck careerist.

Cover used with permission from @zdc

Theme: When you turn around, the one you seek is there among the dim lights