Blurb:
Consort × Powerful Minister
Li Yiner was the legitimate daughter of a general. Gentle and composed, well-read, courteous, filial, and capable, she had so many suitors that they nearly wore down the threshold of the Li residence.
Her mother busied herself trying to find her a husband, but Li Yiner liked none of them. In secret, she had fallen for the cold-faced bookworm next door, Zhao Siheng.
Unfortunately, his ambition was to serve the country and govern its people. He had no time for romance.
Later, her mother fell gravely ill and died with regrets. At the urging of her uncle and aunt, even her own father sent her into the palace.
Eight years later, they met again. He was the emperor's most valued minister, and she was the emperor's most beloved consort.
That day, Li Yiner held a vermilion brush and looked down at Zhao Siheng, kneeling below the steps.
His life was in her hands.
The power he wanted lay beneath her brush.
She had accomplished everything his unfulfilled ambitions could not.
For a moment, Li Yiner even felt the satisfaction of revenge. Seated with regal poise on the high dais, her phoenix eyes dark, she remarked with a hint of mockery:
"Lord Zhao, it's been a long time."
Zhao Siheng stood straight and elegant as jade. His gaze on her was calm, even touched with a trace of pity.
Li Yiner knew he had never regretted it.
She was bewildered, unwilling to accept it yet feeling humiliated. Unwilling to remain trapped in a game with no resolution, she raised her hand and let him go, freeing herself as well.
Reborn, Li Yiner wants only to cure her mother's old illness, leave those towering palace walls behind, and live a simple, free life.
Alternate history, one-on-one romance, both leads sexually inexperienced, rebirth, the husband pursues his wife to win her back
Theme: Strive to better yourself
