The Empress Is Anything but Gentle

[First novel. Enter at your own risk.]

"Miss, once the arrow's loosed, there's no taking it back. You can't flee at the last moment."

When Qiao Yuan heard the whisper, she was dressed in a wedding gown, waiting to be carried off as a concubine to the Marquis's residence, a place with a terrible reputation.

For the sake of rising to power, her father and stepmother pushed her into the marriage as a bargaining chip. She had always been gentle and composed, respectful to her elders, and loving toward her siblings. In the end, all that had done was put her in shackles.

But why should she accept her fate and sacrifice herself to make their lives better?

So she joined forces with the Marchioness to stage a ruse, putting an end to this absurd arrangement. She also managed to enter the palace.

But the palace was no sanctuary.

The concubines were divided by rank and privilege, and the palace servants followed their example, bullying the weak and fawning on the powerful. Not a single one was any different.

She would no longer hide away in a corner, shutting her doors and muddling through life.

Even if the emperor were a lotus on a snowy mountain, she would climb up and pluck him.

*

Later, Qiao Yuan became the emperor's most beloved woman.

Even as plots against her came one after another, the emperor always believed in and protected her. He even personally brought the phoenix from the heavens down to her.

[Reading Guide]

1. Love isn't the heroine's top priority. The story features an ensemble cast.

2. Consort ranks, from highest to lowest: Empress, Imperial Noble Consort, Consort, Jieyu, Concubine, Noble Lady, Lady, Talented Lady, First-Class Attendant, Second-Class Attendant.

Theme: Where there's a will, there's a way.