The Maid of a Great House

[Blurb] Prince An is gentle as jade, steady and dignified, praised throughout the court for his virtue. But his favorite maid, Ruyuan, is willful, domineering, and spoiled. Everyone else thinks she is Prince An's kept woman. Only Ruyuan knows that in private, he calls her little sister, treats her with propriety, and never crosses the line. How can she be content with that? She wants him all to herself, as the perfect husband who belongs to her alone. It's not her fault she's wicked enough to covet the man who is both her guardian and like a father to her. Who told him to raise her like a little wife? A palace banquet erupts into chaos, and Ruyuan's life hangs by a thread. Fleeing in panic, she crashes into the emperor's arms. He looks just like Prince An, but pale and gloomy, his features sharp. When he looks at her, he resembles a demon at an offering, a prisoner seeing the light. “The Prince An residence has no shortage of maids.” After bringing her back to his chambers, with her clothes in disarray, he presses close, intent on taking her by force. “How about becoming my beloved consort?” But Ruyuan refuses to settle for that. She takes a dangerous gamble and drugs herself, all so she can secure a proper relationship with Prince An as soon as possible. Prince An has refused Ruyuan only once in his life: when she offered herself to him during a bout of love poison. He thought that, given time, he could slowly reshape their relationship, never realizing the emperor had long been watching hungrily from the sidelines. Once she enters the palace, its depths are like an ocean. She becomes a wicked consort who brings ruin to the realm: framing the empress, defying the empress dowager, beguiling the emperor, and manipulating the court... Rumors about her come one after another, yet he believes she must have her reasons. Only when he sees her handwriting on an imperial edict, glimpses her behind the throne, and even hears ministers impeach her in a joint memorial does he finally believe that everything has changed. After deciding to resign and retire, she comes to him of her own accord. Though radiant and dazzling as the sun, worry is hard to hide in her eyes. “His Majesty has little time left. If I have no child to protect me, I'll be hacked to pieces once he dies. Brother, can you really bear to see that happen?” As she speaks, she gently taps his chest. The gold ring on her finger glitters like a treasure, its needle-sharp gleam stabbing his eyes and piercing his heart. The rings are a pair, each engraved on the inside with four characters: “May you have your heart's desire; may I fulfill your wish.” He knows she's trying to drag him down from his moral pedestal and turn all his restraint into a joke. But can he really refuse her a second time? [Content Warnings] (Weekly updates if the novel gets featured; otherwise, seven thousand characters a week. Plenty of chapters are already written.) * Setting inspired by the Tang Dynasty, with a native heroine who isn't perfect. The heroine inhabits a moral low ground and refuses to be guilt-tripped. Includes grooming, faux coercive seduction, groveling, childish palace intrigue, revenge, male rivalry, a substitute, and other melodramatic elements. * Inspired by the story of Lord Chunshen and Li Yuan's sister, but the plot structure has been substantially changed, with a great deal of original worldbuilding! Theme: Don't look back. Be brave and move forward!