My Fake Death Was Exposed by My Stepson, the Emperor

Delicate, sweet consort dowager who faked her death and eloped x reserved, gentle new emperor who has gone mad

[Complete | Pure-hearted alternate scenario updating | Emperor takes his minister's wife | Good man goes mad | See the upcoming novel at the end, The Third Year After the Rebellion Was Exposed 💞]

In the second year of Hongjia, Consort Dowager Xue Yi met the imperial guard Pu Wang and gradually began to think of escaping the palace.

--She had entered the palace at only fifteen, and her life had seemed to be abruptly cut off by the towering palace walls. Even after five years, she still longed for the blue skies beyond them.

A fire.

She escaped the palace successfully and became the distant cousin of the imperial guard Pu Wang. Then they spent time together and married. Though their life was less comfortable than the one she had known at home, they had enough to eat and warm clothes to wear, and they were happy.

Until one day, a figure she had never imagined seeing stepped into the Pu residence.

It was the emperor.

He had someone toss Pu Wang's barely breathing body onto the porch. Blood seeped into the snow.

Snow fell all around. The cold crept desperately through Xue Yi's clothes. With her belly swollen, she had to hold on to the door just to keep her knees from giving way.

“...Return to the palace with me,” the emperor said.

“This common woman... This common woman is a daughter of the Xue clan of Xingyang. I only came to the capital last year, after marrying my cousin...” she said, forcing herself to keep her nerve. “I don't know what Your Majesty means...”

The emperor stared at her for a long time, then said:

“Fine. That makes it even better.

“You will divorce him today and come back to the palace with me.”

--

[Male lead's perspective]

On the day the Xue family fell, the emperor flew into a rage and ordered the extermination of the entire clan.

But the case was full of suspicious details. The Crown Prince, Zhou Jun, ignored all objections and went with a group of ministers who had come to petition him to Zhangde Hall.

As he hurried into the hall, he passed a palace consort kneeling beneath the eaves.

It was already deep winter, and snow covered the entire palace. The consort wore plain clothes, and only her face was red from the cold.

“That's the youngest daughter of the Xue family, isn't it? How pitiful...” someone whispered.

Before entering the hall, Zhou Jun finally couldn't hold back and looked over his shoulder.

--Before he was betrothed to the former Crown Princess, the empress had brought him portraits of several young women and asked him to choose. Among them was the youngest daughter of the Xue family. He had heard that she was the youngest daughter of the old Minister Xue, and that she was rather innocent and lively.

He had picked Xue Yi first.

“She is too beautiful. It wouldn't be appropriate.”

“Do you dislike her?” his mother asked.

“No. I like her,” he paused, then said, “and that is precisely why I cannot choose her.”

Later, after he ascended the throne, a fire burned away all his reason.

--

[Minor spoilers and notes]

1. Angsty, over-the-top coercive pursuit and winning her back. Ninety percent is romance between the two. Their relationship only develops after their former ethical ties are severed. One-on-one for part of the story, happy ending.

2. There is angst, misunderstandings, and characters who don't say what they mean. A child appears in the latter half.

3. The characters are not based on real people, and the dynasty is fictional.

4. Before signing with a publisher, updates follow the rankings schedule, or every other day if there is no schedule. Daily updates after signing.

The extra chapters should include a pure-hearted alternate scenario where both leads are virgins.

The following is the upcoming novel The Third Year After the Rebellion Was Exposed [Not actually siblings | Good emperor x wicked princess | Angsty melodrama]

He was the one who said:

“Yongjia, if there's any man in the world you like, just tell your elder brother.”

He was also the one who said:

“Princess Yongjia is licentious, rebellious, and treasonous. Remove her from the imperial family register, strip her of her fief, and demote her to a commoner.”

And he was still the one who said:

“...Give birth to my child, and I will spare you the death penalty for treason.”

[Full description]

Xiao Mojun later learned that on the day she was imprisoned for treason, Xiao Jun had sat alone in his study all night without closing his eyes.

Her elder brother, who had been steady and composed for as long as she could remember, had apparently spent a sleepless night.

The dark circles beneath his eyes when he saw her the next day came from that.

How laughable that she had still thought she was the favored Princess Yongjia, spoiled by power and privilege. Still as willful as ever, she had demanded to know why he had waited a whole night before coming to see her.

Xiao Jun gave no answer.

A moment later, as the eunuch beside them read out her crimes, she finally awoke as if from a dream. What sibling affection? What devotion to one another? In the imperial family, they were all no more than a fragile layer of paper.

--The brother who had raised her with his own hands and watched her marry was going to punish her... to kill her!

She panicked.

--

Later, she tried every method she could think of. Her subordinates were doomed, and the men who had once begged for her favor now changed their tune, avoiding her as if she carried a plague.

With nowhere else to turn, she could only listen to the terrible advice of the only blind old woman by her side and go back to curry favor with Xiao Jun.

When she saw Xiao Jun again, she spoke of their past, admitted to all sorts of mistakes, and looked at him with tear-filled eyes.

But Xiao Jun remained completely unmoved.

He merely looked down at her, half his face cloaked in shadow, and said indifferently:

“How are you supposed to beg? Did I never teach you?”

--

She had committed treason when he loved her most, then climbed into his bed when he hated her most.

Theme: Seizing the initiative after the other side has made their move