After Tormenting the Cool Beauty (Female-Dominated World)

Zhong Yi is genuinely talented and devoted to serving her country and its people, but she faces setbacks at every turn in government and nearly loses her position in a fit of anger.

Just as she hesitates, the celebrated heir apparent, Xi Yuanbai, appears and tells her that if she marries him, she can rely on imperial power and will never again have to bow to the powerful.

Zhong Yi despises officials who protect one another and line their own pockets. Determined to purge the court of useless parasites, she accepts the marriage alliance with the heir apparent without hesitation and returns to government.

Everyone in her way becomes a stepping stone on her climb to power. Zhong Yi's heart grows harder, and her methods increasingly ruthless. Before long, she becomes a Censor of the Censorate, cracking down on corrupt officials and punishing crooked bureaucrats with such swift decisiveness that the whole court stands in awe.

Everyone says the Chief Censor is a good official. Only Xi Yuanbai understands just how cold and heartless that woman can be. Greedy and convinced he could bind her to his side, he never expected Zhong Yi's abilities and power to gradually slip beyond his control.

Once, he could enjoy a brief moment of warmth in her embrace. Now, he cannot even touch the edge of her sleeve.

He sits alone day after day until the oil lamp burns out, yet the one who left never comes back.

The proud, arrogant Xi Yuanbai is driven mad. Grabbing Zhong Yi's sleeve with bloodshot eyes, he demands to know why she is so heartless to him.

Zhong Yi's gaze is icy, and her words chill him to the bone. "You used power to lure me here. You should have known that power is all I care about."

[Reading guide]

- First the husband suffers, then he chases his wife, and finally she dotes on him. (Angsty, melodramatic fun.)

- Male pregnancy.

Theme: Cherish those you have, and hold on to what is by your side.