The Favored Consort

At sixteen, Ming Shang entered the palace through the selection, but because of her humble family background, she received only the lowly rank of Baolin.

The Emperor was busy with state affairs and did not summon any newcomers for months. The concubines of the inner palace grew restless and went one after another to bring soup to the imperial presence. Though they were all turned away, they kept coming regardless.

Ming Shang alone paid it no mind. She stayed quietly in Shunxiang Court and practiced dancing in the pavilion whenever she had time.

Li Huaixiu was indifferent by nature. To him, the women of his harem were merely a means of balancing the court and continuing the imperial line.

Until one day, he casually selected the lowest-ranking concubine on the list of those waiting to attend him.

Beneath the moonlight and the wavering candle flame, the beauty's skin was whiter than snow, and her willow-thin waist was especially supple.

After her rank rose again and again, the woman, her cheeks rosy and her slender waist trembling, clung to him with a sweet, soft voice. "Your Majesty, I don't want to be a mere mistress anymore. I want to be a Consort."

At first, Li Huaixiu knew she had entered the palace to climb the ladder of power, and her capricious nature had given him headaches more than once.

Later, he lowered his lashes and gently laid a hand over the woman's still-flat belly, his expression nonchalant. "Give me one more child, and I'll let your past affection for that man go."

Mi (pronounced fu, second tone)

Coming soon: Flowers Part from the Tree

Wan Ning regretted not listening to her second brother when she ran away with Gou Lang. It turned out that Gou Lang had used her as bait in a trap for her second brother.

Not wanting to drag her second brother down with her, Wan Ning took her own life.

When she opened her eyes, she was back on the day she had argued with her second brother and tried to run away with Gou Lang.

Her second brother's old illness flared up from anger. He pressed a large handkerchief to his chest and coughed without end. Wan Ning stared in a daze at his pale, gloomy face and couldn't help wanting to cry. She knew her second brother had kept the blood he coughed up hidden in the handkerchief.

Forget that dog, cat, or rabbit Gou Lang. He could get lost. In this life, she only wanted to listen obediently to her second brother and never make him angry again.

When her second brother coughed, she brought him extra clothes. When he took his medicine, she handed him candy. When he went to bed, she warmed it for him. And when he got up in the morning... Ahem. Seeing that enormous thing, her beautiful eyes widened and she quickly covered her scarlet face. Her second brother would have to manage on his own. She couldn't help with that!

When Pei Lingxi was young, he was given a little sister, whom he cherished and protected, unable to bear seeing her suffer the slightest hardship.

Later, he didn't know when his little sister's most frequent words had become, "A Ning will do whatever Second Brother says!" and "A Ning doesn't want to leave Second Brother. Second Brother, don't abandon A Ning."

And he found himself liking those words more and more. With time, his gaze began to change whenever he heard them.

A gentle, coughing-blood gentleman of a big brother x a clever, sweet little sister of incomparable beauty

Content warnings:

Both are virgins, and they are not blood-related!!!

Second Brother loved A Ning in both their past and present lives.

Second Brother's illness will be cured (even while sick, he's still very strong, ahem).

[The author really loves cats, dogs, and bunnies! All surnames are equal. There is no intention to disparage any surname!]

Theme: Even in the mud, keep striving to grow upward