The Tyrant's Flowers Aren't Edible

An Fu transmigrated into a book, becoming the discarded consort banished to the cold palace in a novel aimed at male readers.

The original story follows a modern man who transmigrates as a beggar, struggles his way up, outlives the short-lived, tyrannical ruler, and rises from humble beginnings to cross the class divide.

Whenever An Fu falls asleep, she dreams that she has become the night-blooming flower kept by the tyrant at his bedside, and watches in terror as he flies into a rage.

Keeping flowers to help him sleep? The tyrant doesn't sleep at all!

Fortunately,

so long as the flower blooms, she wakes from the dream and turns back into the ignored consort in the cold palace.

What a relief... What relief? This dream is terrifying!

Wen Ren Li, the short-lived tyrant, was said at birth to be the reincarnation of an ill-omened star. His temper was unpredictable, and after becoming ruler, he grew even more ruthless, cold-blooded, and cruel, crushing all opposition with an iron fist. Every day, he did nothing but kill people and raise all sorts of flowers to help him sleep.

Rumor had it that Wen Ren Li kept a celestial flower.

It looked plain and delicate, and only bloomed at night. Taking it could grant eternal life.

In the original novel's ending and epilogue, the beggar protagonist ascends the throne. Under cover of night, he pries open the coffin of the now-deceased tyrant and tears the flower from between his skeletal fingers, then eats it.

And so, the cruel master and his lovely flower meet their end.

An Fu: Who told you that eating a night-blooming cereus grants eternal life? That's nonsense!

Wen Ren Li was cruel and cold. Night after night, he suffered from insomnia and could find only brief relief by breathing in the fragrance of the flower when it bloomed.

Until one day,

the flower suddenly stopped blooming.

Later, the people noticed that the air had become fresher, the officials noticed that the tyrant's temper had improved, and the palace servants noticed...

The tyrant's precious flower had wilted.

Its petals were tightly shut. It refused to bloom, no matter what.

Wen Ren Li's face was pale, his eyes filled with menace. He stroked the petals, his cold voice low and hoarse:

"Why won't you bloom?"

Caught in the act, An Fu stared at her own body lying on the imperial bed and trembled with fear.

Maybe she should just pretend to be dead.

[Timid Consort x Brutal Tyrant]

(The flower is also known as the night-blooming cereus and other names. It has some soothing, sleep-inducing effects, and I won't give it any abilities beyond those of the real flower. The celestial flower is just a rumor. The heroine only dreams from the flower's point of view, as if her soul transmigrates into it for a while each night. Some details about the flower are also made up by me, so please just think of it as a flower with the same name in a fictional world. No need to nitpick, please.)

Theme: Sincerity is the only way to win sincerity.