A Bao, the Deposed Empress

A Bao's life was full of twists and turns.

Born to a troupe of female entertainers in Shu, she had been a beggar, drifted to Yangzhou, and ended up as a singing girl in a brothel. Luckily, Prince Xuan passed by, fell in love with her at first sight, bought her freedom, and married her.

When Prince Xuan ascended the throne, she was crowned empress. Thus began her miserable life of being cursed by the historians, the censors, and everyone under heaven. Even a lowly Hanlin Academy painter dared to refuse to paint her, making her the laughingstock of the entire palace.

On the day she died, A Bao breathed out one last long sigh.

At last, she was free.

But when she opened her eyes...

She had become a wandering ghost, condemned to haunt a man day and night, unable to leave.

Watching the slender figure brush paint across a canvas by candlelight, A Bao silently swore.

*

Liang Hong, courtesy name Yuanjing, came from a distinguished family of scholars. He loved painting from a young age and studied under renowned masters. By fifteen, he was famous throughout the land and had been selected for the Hanlin Academy's Painting Bureau as a court painter. He excelled at landscapes, flowers, bamboo, rocks, and birds, but was especially skilled at meticulous figure painting and renowned for his portraits of beauties. His paintings were considered masterpieces, often impossible to buy even for a fortune.

What no one knew was that Liang Yuanjing's proudest work was a portrait of a beauty, hidden at the bottom of a chest.

The beauty in the painting hid her face behind a round fan and smiled sweetly. She was none other than the deposed Empress A Bao.

*

When Liang Yuanjing was fifteen, he traveled through Sichuan and met a little girl performing on the streets beneath Mount Qingcheng. Her name was A Bao. She was fiery-tempered, loved sweet pastries, and played the pipa beautifully.

Later, locusts ravaged Sichuan, and tens of thousands became refugees. For years, he searched desperately for her, but never found a trace.

Then, one day, in the imperial gardens, he was ordered to paint a portrait of the new empress. A dignified woman slowly emerged from among the flowers, with the very features he had drawn countless times. Her attendant called her...

"Your Majesty."

The late Empress x the gentle painter

Also known as: What Should I Do After I Die and Become a Ghost Stuck to the Person I Hate Most?

Note:

1. The heroine was married before, so the hero is a virgin while the heroine is not, but her ex-husband barely features. The trash emperor can get lost.

2. An imaginary setting modeled after the Song dynasty. Please don't nitpick the history.

3. The heroine's background draws inspiration from Empress Liu E of Emperor Zhenzong's reign.

-------------------- I'm a divider --------------------

[Coming Soon] Matchmaker's Guide

Yun Yao transmigrates, and to return to the modern world, she must complete a matchmaker's task.

The task has three challenges:

1. The heroine's father is a chancellor who claims to be restoring the Jin dynasty, but is really a traitor plotting to steal the throne. The hero is a weak emperor stripped of power, bullied by the treacherous chancellor.

2. Yun Yao transmigrates into the lowest-ranking maid in the Minister of Works' residence, too insignificant even to get near the heroine.

3. When she arrives, the heroine has just beaten the emperor after stuffing him into a sack.

Yun Yao: "..."

If you want me dead, just say so!

*

After working tirelessly, Yun Yao finally gets promoted to the heroine's personal maid. Just as she is about to bring the heroine and the emperor together, disaster strikes.

Xiahou Qing, a warlord from Xiliang, marches into Chang'an with a hundred thousand cavalry and demands the heroine's hand in marriage.

To complete her task, Yun Yao has no choice but to sacrifice herself for the greater good. Disguised as a boy and posing as a stable hand, she goes undercover beside Xiahou Qing, waiting for a chance to sabotage the wedding.

From then on, whenever her lord rides, she holds his reins; whenever he is thirsty, she brings him tea; whenever he is tired, she makes his bed.

When it's time to put out the lights, she also slips in a few words, such as, "The chancellor's daughter is ugly and wicked. My lord must never marry such a monster."

As time passes, Xiahou Qing begins looking at her differently.

One day, he finds her in the stable with some freshly picked flowers. "Yao Yao, I wish to break off my engagement to the chancellor and marry you. What do you say?"

Heh. Has he been single so long that even a stable hand looks charming to him?

Well, if you round things up, that's a successful defection.

Yun Yao gritted her teeth and accepted the bandit's proposal.

*

Years later, the heroine and the emperor finally marry, and Yun Yao has completed her mission. She slings her bundle over her shoulder and prepares to run.

On the day she leaves, she stands atop a high altar and sees Xiahou Qing galloping toward her through billowing dust, with thousands of soldiers behind him.

"Yun Yao, don't you dare leave!"

He shouts up at her, eyes bloodshot.

The last thing Yun Yao sees is this northwestern war god tumbling off his horse and charging toward her without a thought, desperate to grab her sleeve.

The lord may not know how to talk, but he loves you.

Quick-witted, lively maid x pure-hearted, rugged lord

Theme: Those who love others are loved in return