Li Suyu, a low-ranking palace maid assigned to sweep the Plum Garden, had a secret.
She had noticed that the young emperor, famed for his commanding presence and his love of war, often let his gaze stray toward her.
His eyes were full of interest, almost predatory.
Her heart pounded like a drum. She instinctively looked away, yet couldn't help straightening her perpetually bowed back.
Li Suyu knew she had no chance of rising from the lowest ranks to become an empress. She had neither the discerning heart of Empress Bigan, nor the peerless beauty of Lady Taoyao, nor the beauty and talent of Beauty Wenyi.
So, when their eyes met for the tenth time, the emperor slowly approached and lifted her chin. Li Suyu knelt, trembling, and turned him down.
"I only want to leave the palace when I turn twenty-five and reunite with my family."
Yin Chengwei, as expected, didn't make things difficult for her. She was so unusual.
But when Li Suyu went home to visit her family and saw their shabby, crumbling house and her mother, frail with age, she changed her mind.
On a stormy night, she ran back to the palace and clutched Yin Chengwei's robe. Rain clung to her eyelashes as she looked at him with pitiful eyes.
The emperor sighed. "I never said you couldn't change your mind."
*
Later, gold, silver, jewels, rhino horns, and ivory flowed into the Guanwa Palace. Li Suyu rose from the lowliest palace maid to become the foremost of the Four Ladies.
Casting aside her timidity, she grew spoiled and domineering under the emperor's exclusive favor. Night after night, she demanded his attention, forbade him from visiting other women's palaces, and even clamored to have her family promoted.
The emperor granted her every wish and doted on her more deeply with each passing day.
Until Li Suyu asked, "Do you actually love me?"
Reader's guide:
1. The emperor is a virgin!
Theme: Desire is a woman's nature.
