Using a Powerful Minister as Medicine

Abandoned because the ending was going nowhere.

[Note from 2024-01-01]

Rong Zhen, the youngest daughter of the reigning emperor, was dazzling and haughty, a beauty beyond compare.

Her mother, Consort Hai, had once been an Imperial Noble Consort, but died young in the cold palace. The emperor felt guilty toward the Hai family and indulged them greatly, especially Rong Zhen, the child of his late Imperial Noble Consort. Shielded by imperial favor, the little princess was spoiled and presumptuous. Even the consorts in the inner palace had to give her a wide berth.

Everyone knew she was not someone who would tolerate the slightest offense.

But no one knew that, as a child, Rong Zhen had once lived on coarse food, enduring hunger and cold.

*

Rong Zhen thought that after clawing her way to her present position, she would enjoy a life of unassailable privilege. But on the eve of her maternal grandfather Hai Xu Ru's sixtieth birthday banquet, she had an utterly bizarre dream.

In the dream, she went to the banquet and coquettishly pleaded with her grandfather to let her cousin Hai Fu Yi become her consort. Her grandfather stroked his beard and smiled kindly, nodding at them again and again. But the scene suddenly shifted, and she found herself sharing a bed with a strange man, her clothes in disarray.

Her mind went blank, her ears ringing. Before she could react, a great fire suddenly broke out outside. The sky glowed orange as flames licked the roof and beams. Through the haze, all she could hear was her maid Zhu Fan's anguished, desperate cries for help.

She woke as if escaping a tiger's jaws.

But her grandfather's birthday was just around the corner.

*

Jiang Xu came from a distinguished family. The fourth son of the Grand General Who Guards the Nation, he stood head and shoulders above his peers and looked down on the world. He was also a man of remarkable talent. After abandoning the military for civil service, it took him only a few years to enter the cabinet and take charge of the Ministry of War. His meteoric rise was enough to leave people speechless.

People lavished Jiang Xu with every kind of praise, as if they wanted to heap every flattering word upon him. Yet there was one thing: Lord Jiang was nearing thirty and still unmarried. They said he had met with many unmarried young women and even arranged several betrothals, but for some reason, none of them had come to anything.

People kept their lips tightly sealed about the matter, but in private they speculated: either he suffered from a hidden ailment or he preferred men. It had to be one or the other.

Jiang Xu had always let such rumors go in one ear and out the other. But at the birthday banquet of the Hai family's old master, that heartless young woman looked at him with teasing eyes. His expression darkened at once.

After the evening banquet, he stayed at the Hai residence to recuperate in the medicinal spring on the mountain behind the house.

He never expected the young woman to come barreling into the warm pool where he was staying, like a lost lamb. Trembling softly, she slowly drew close to him and raised her bright, limpid eyes. "Jiang Ji Jiu..."

The water rippled. A night of passion followed.

The next day.

For once, the usually composed and levelheaded Jiang Xu felt a flutter of nervousness. He brought a betrothal proposal and gifts to ask for her hand, waiting only for her consent. Instead, she mocked him mercilessly. After discreetly making inquiries, he learned that the emperor had already chosen a consort for her: Lu Li Shan, the second son of the Lu family's concubine. As it turned out, Rong Zhen herself had chosen him.

Jiang Xu stood outside the palace gates, laughing in anger.

Fine, fine. You used me and then threw me away, is that it?

*

Content warning: The leads have an eleven-year age gap. The heroine is heartless and will use every source of power around her without scruple, just to live comfortably.

Setting: The heroine has memories of a past life and gradually gains glimpses of the future through her dreams. The second male lead is reborn and slowly regains his memories. The male lead has no memories of a past life. The second male lead pursues the heroine after losing her, but will never win her back. Please don't read if you dislike this!

Theme: Even when the odds are against me, I'll turn the tables against all odds.