The Demon Consort Was Forced to Be Buried Alive

While the late emperor was away fighting, Yang Zhaohua gave birth to the palace's only prince and spent her days throwing her weight around in the harem and doing nothing. One day she'd call Concubine Zheng over to massage her legs, the next she'd summon Concubine Li to play the zither. Life couldn't be better.

When the late emperor died, Yang Zhaohua was devastated, and wept herself unconscious in front of a crowd of elderly ministers. She really was heartbroken. The emperor had been about to make her empress in bed, and now it had all come to nothing.

She'd thought she would become empress dowager and enjoy her retirement, but then her brother-in-law, Prince Jing, produced an order requiring her to be buried with the emperor. Yang Zhaohua was strangled to death, while her son was taken away and raised by her archenemy, Consort Zhao.

After her death, in the Hall of Star Fate, she read through the Book of Destinies and discovered she'd been living inside a novel all along. She was the story's wicked supporting female character, forever tormenting the consorts in the harem.

The novel's heroine was Consort Zhao, who had taken her son to raise. The late emperor had seized the woman his younger brother loved. Prince Jing had bided his time, poisoned the late emperor, supported the young emperor, and seized control of the court, all while spending his nights having fun with the empress dowager.

Readers were swooning: Handsome prince x beautiful empress dowager! I'm so in!

Yang Zhaohua, who had always thought she was the heroine, was crushed. So I was the joke all along!

In the blink of an eye, rather than waking up in some distant future, she was back just before the emperor set off on his campaign.

Yang Zhaohua secretly chewed her finger. Should she save this husband of convenience?

The late emperor: My Consort Yang may be foolish, but she really is beautiful. She's given birth to a prince today, so that's a great service. With a grand wave of his hand, he makes her Noble Consort. What? You don't want to be Noble Consort, you want to be empress? How could that be possible? My beloved, just let me explain.

What! My beloved has packed her things and run off? Quick, bring me the imperial edict!

Well, now I want her.

Please check out and bookmark my other two novels in my collection:

"The Crown Prince's Companion in a Fallen Kingdom"

Becoming a prince's companion, and the only son of the emperor at that, means that even if you can't become a prince or chancellor, you can still live in comfort and luxury. Anyone would wake up laughing in a position like that.

But the prince Pei Miaojin became companion to was about to die, and so was the country.

Thinking of this, Pei Miaojin secretly returns home to pack a bag, ready to run away at any moment.

Later:

The all-powerful Chief Councillor He tugs on Pei Jin's sleeve, refusing to let him go.

The late emperor's adopted son grabs his other sleeve and begs him to spare him.

The watchful Northern Rong and scheming Wei Kingdom fall into deep thought.

The Grand Tutor, who'd always felt guilty that his goofing off in class would cause the kingdom's downfall, stares dumbfounded at the map of the unified Great Qi.

A certain Grand Tutor: So teaching a wise ruler isn't that hard?

The Hanlin Academy scholars: Don't make me tell the official historian how you used to read picture books with the prince in class.

The male lead's version:

How do I make my companion realize I'm just a good-for-nothing?

My companion thinks I'm amazing and wants me to unify the world. What do I do? I'm waiting online, and I'm kind of desperate.

What do I do if I accidentally save the emperor's only son?

What do I do if I accidentally become the emperor's confidant?

What do I do if the emperor insists on promoting me and giving me titles?

Oh no, what do I do if I accidentally help the emperor conquer other countries and unify the world?

The ministers: This is just ridiculous. (Rolls eyes)

"The Stepmom Novel's Foil"

Song Lingyao suddenly discovers that she's the foil character in a rich-family stepmom novel. After her billionaire husband mysteriously disappears, he leaves behind a hungry baby who will grow up to crush the heroine's husband.

In the novel, not only is she unable to inherit her husband's billions, but, as the biological daughter, she's also unloved by both her parents. In the end, the whole internet attacks her on a parenting variety show meant to make the heroine look good, and she winds up in a psychiatric hospital.

The heroine, by contrast, is the Song family's adopted daughter: beautiful, sweet-talking, married into a top-tier family, and treating her stepson like her own.

Song Lingyao can't understand why her parents love their adopted daughter more than they love her. She even got a paternity test.

At last, she understands that it's because... But none of that matters now. What could matter more than money? Isn't inheriting her grandfather's billions the best?

The story has reached the point where her mysterious billionaire husband disappears and the whole internet turns against her. The more Song Lingyao thinks about it, the more determined she is to fight back.

First, the internet's favorite target, Song Lingyao, tosses the parenting-show script aside. Why join a parenting variety show when she could go back and inherit billions?

Lying in her own backyard, she picks up an invitation to the show "My Manager and Me."

Once the variety show begins, the other pairings are: a gentle, adorable actress x a sophisticated manager

a top-tier star x a smooth, worldly manager

an acclaimed actor x a sweet, adorable manager

Song Lingyao's pairing: a former artist who's fallen out with her manager x a manager hated by the whole internet.

Netizens: For a moment, I can't tell whose reputation is worse.

Theme: Don't judge a person's heart by their appearance