The Noble Consort's Favor Never Fades

[A court-intrigue story of the same type, The Palace Maid's Special Favor, is currently updating. You can save another court-intrigue story, The Noble Consort's Special Favor, to your collection. Please save the historical romance Captive Love Beside the Emperor as well.]

1.

When Shen Lishu was twelve, her father risked his life to save Prince Xiang, Li Xun, who brought her back to the capital. From then on, she lived at Prince Xiang's residence.

For three whole years, His Highness kept her by his side in the study and taught her personally.

Everyone said she was lucky, that she had latched onto the Prince's residence, a treasure wrapped in gold. She had gone from an unknown minor official's daughter to Miss Shen.

That is, until the Emperor personally arranged a marriage for Prince Xiang, declaring that the eldest granddaughter of Grand Tutor Gu, Yi Lian, was gracious, virtuous, talented, and a suitable match.

On the day of His Highness's wedding, the Prince's residence was draped in red silk, and the capital was filled with wedding gifts stretching for miles. Shen Lishu lay awake all night.

From then on, she understood that love was worthless. Only wealth and status could be relied upon.

Later, when she heard that the Princess Consort intended to find a respectable young man to marry her off to, she decided to strike first.

2.

In the twenty-fifth year of Yuancheng, the Emperor died. Prince Xiang ascended the throne by imperial decree, taking Chunping as his reign title.

The new Emperor bestowed titles throughout the six palaces, and the most favored was Lady Shen, a Zhaoyi.

Back when the Emperor was still a prince, she had been no more than a Liangyuan. Now she held the highest position in her own palace, so favored that even the Empress had to avoid her sharp edge. The Emperor doted on her above all others.

Everyone said Lady Zhaoyi was peerlessly beautiful and worthy of being called a favored consort.

Only Shen Lishu herself knew how many days she had spent walking on eggshells and plotting every step in this inner residence and imperial harem, where people were devoured without even leaving their bones, before she could reach where she was today.

Little scene:

In the third year of Chunping, the Emperor held a selection of consorts.

Dozens of young women of marriageable age entered the palace by imperial order.

On the night the new consorts entered the palace, the Emperor was in Consort Yi's quarters.

Shen Lishu frowned slightly as she watched the man peeling lychees for her. "The younger sisters entered the palace today. What brings Your Majesty to my quarters?"

Li Xun fed her the fruit, then reached out to take the seed she spat out. "I haven't seen you all day. I miss you dearly, Yuanyuan."

She gave a soft snort. "Your Majesty is always saying such empty things. Tomorrow you'll use the same words to coax the other sisters."

"Then I won't say empty things. I'll do something real."

The next day, an imperial edict was announced throughout the six palaces:

Consort Yi, Shen, has long served in the palace and is truly of one heart with me. She is hereby promoted to Noble Consort Yi.

Everyone was in an uproar, all sighing that Noble Consort Yi was truly the most favored woman in the six palaces.

#Inner-residence intrigue in the early part, harem intrigue in the later part. Fictional setting, no need to fact-check#

#The heroine is a virgin; the hero is not. He'll only favor her in the later part. Slow burn#

#There is no romance or intimate interaction between the heroine and hero before she turns fifteen#

#Blurb archived on 2024/10/21. The main text takes precedence#

P.S. If anything here is a dealbreaker for you, please don't read. I'm new to writing harem intrigue and have many shortcomings. I suggest buying one chapter at a time, and stopping if you find anything uncomfortable. A Jin has plenty of other polished and exciting harem-intrigue stories!

Coming soon: Captive Love Beside the Emperor. Blurb below, please save it to your collection.

Beautiful, innocent noblewoman x gloomy, deranged Emperor | Little white rabbit x big bad wolf

-

Huo Yanhui has been on the throne for more than ten years. He has put down border conflicts, secured the people's livelihood, and brought the great families under control. The world praises him for it, but no one is perfect...

His Majesty is debauched and has countless beauties in his harem.

He has even decreed that every two years, the great noble families, named and renowned, must send eligible young women from their clans to the palace.

When she learned she was next year's candidate, Lou Qingjiao and her parents went several days without sleep.

Lou Qingjiao was pampered from childhood and had a kind heart. Her father had also arranged a childhood betrothal for her when she was born.

But as a member of a branch family of the Lou clan, she had enjoyed its wealth and power, so she naturally had to follow the clan's arrangements.

The young woman could hardly hide her sorrow. She had heard that the Emperor governed well, but was debauched, unpredictable, and more than ten years older than her!

Lou Qingjiao entered the palace with a heart full of despair, only to discover that His Majesty was far worse than the rumors said...

He was a madman!

His gaze was like that of a black python, sending chills down her spine.

-

Huo Yanhui had known since childhood that he was a puppet, controlled by his mother.

Even after becoming Emperor, he was no more than a knife in someone else's hand.

At last, that woman died. But he discovered that he had gone mad, too.

Watching one beautiful young woman after another vie for his favor and use every trick at their disposal was the only thing that could bring a faint smile to his lips, one that never reached his eyes.

But he never touched those women. They were filthy.

Until one day, as usual, he went to the quarters of a new consort...

The woman wore pink. Her hairpins had all been removed, and her black hair rose and fell with her breathing. Her gaze was like a rabbit's deep in the mountains. Though she was clearly frightened, her trembling fingers reached for his belt.

"Y-Your Majesty..."

He looked at her coldly and made no move.

Her belt fell loose. She didn't know what she was doing and received no response. In the end, she burst into tears.

"Can't you teach me?"

Her eyes were slightly red, her expression both petulant and coy, her gaze shimmering.

Huo Yanhui gave a cold laugh. Just another game of playing hard to get. Still, it was amusing.

But gradually, Huo Yanhui realized things weren't so amusing anymore.

That little white rabbit was too obedient. He didn't like it.

Should he treat her like the others and destroy her, or teach this obedient rabbit to become wicked, then destroy her afterward?

Reading notes:

1. The romance is the main focus. Court intrigue and other plot elements serve the romance. If you mind that this isn't traditional court intrigue, please don't read!

2. The hero is a true ancient man. He's genuinely awful at the beginning, so don't judge him by modern morality (please!)

3. Both are virgins | The heroine will grow | The heroine will become Empress

Theme: If you want something, fight for it yourself