The Tale of Consort Xie

[Next book: The Empress Has Ambitions of Her Own. Please add it to your reading list!]

Blurb

Xie Ruojing was born into the prestigious Xie family, raised in luxury and blessed with a beauty capable of captivating a nation. From childhood, she was betrothed to the legitimate eldest son of the Wang family. If all went as expected, she would have lived out her life in comfort and contentment.

But the times fell into turmoil. Emperor Wei was a foolish and tyrannical ruler who persecuted loyal subjects. Every member of the Xie family save for two daughters and one son died for their country, while the eldest legitimate daughter was bestowed in marriage as the Crown Prince's secondary consort.

On the day Xie Ruojing entered the Crown Prince's residence, she thought: Since the emperor has used the Xie family's good name to pave the Crown Prince's path, now it is her turn to walk the road to glory.

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In his life, Crown Prince Meng Zhang had never encountered anything he couldn't obtain.

The empire and its beauties were as easy to take as something from a bag. To him, Xie Ruojing was merely an ornament in a prosperous age.

Even the woman he could not have when he was young had, by a twist of fate, become his secondary consort.

Meng Zhang thought his life would be complete.

That was until he saw Wang Jie, the man who had nearly married Xie Ruojing. The seed of jealousy in his heart sprouted wildly and eventually grew into a towering tree.

"Between him and me, whom do you love?"

P.S. The first half focuses on household intrigue, and the second half on palace intrigue. The male lead is not a virgin. He's a typical emperor. He will go from favoring the heroine to loving her exclusively. He won't mistreat her, but she will also go through a process of growth.

My next book is The Empress Has Ambitions of Her Own. Blurb:

Su Yueying was the legitimate eldest daughter of the Minister of Rites' household. Born noble, she was nevertheless as fragile as paper.

Her mother died young, and her father disliked her.

The court was in turmoil, and the princes were fighting for the throne. Her stepmother couldn't bear to send her own daughter to become Prince Yong's secondary consort, so she persuaded her father to have Su Yueying carried into Prince Yong's residence in a small sedan chair.

Prince Yong, Chu Yu, was cold and restrained, a man of propriety who never showed the women in his household any kindness.

To win his favor, Su Yueying had no choice but to conceal all her dirty tricks and painstakingly play the part of a frail white lotus before him, earning a little of his sympathy.

After finally enduring until Chu Yu ascended the throne, she was granted the title of consort. Just as spring seemed to be arriving, her family planned to send her younger half-sister into the palace during the selection, hoping to take her place.

Su Yueying held the letter from her family. Every word was full of "deep affection," asking her to put the greater good first, support her younger sister, and secure the family's favor and glory.

She rubbed the letter between her fingers until it crumbled to dust, a cold smile curling her lips.

You want to step on me to rise to success? Let's see if you have what it takes to survive!

Su Yueying would stop at nothing to climb higher. What she never expected was that, in the end, the lofty emperor himself would place the throne beside him in her hands.

**

[Male Lead's Perspective]

From childhood, Chu Yu had been taught:

"A ruler must never show his emotions. He must weigh and balance, cast aside personal feelings, and renounce love and desire."

He had always followed those teachings well: calm, ruthless, and impartial. That is, until the small sedan chair was carried into his residence.

At his first meeting with Su Yueying, he thought only that she was far too beautiful, a peerless beauty worthy of being called a beauty who could bring ruin to a dynasty in the history books. He would have to be strict with her and never let her grow spoiled.

Afterward, she always appeared meek and obedient before him, like a white lotus beaten by the rain, so fragile she needed to cling to a sturdy tree like him to survive.

She was a fine actress. The admiration in her eyes and the dependence in her words were perfectly measured.

But what sort of man was Chu Yu? How could he fail to see that her eyes held no affection at all?

He knew she was not as kind and pure as she appeared.

She was petty and vindictive. Anyone who provoked her would surely come to a bad end.

And yet it was precisely this woman who made Chu Yu's gaze linger on her time and again, beyond his control. He even took the initiative to clean up her messes and cover for her schemes. He knew he shouldn't, but he couldn't control himself.

She was like a flame, drawing this iceberg toward her.

At some point, Chu Yu began to desperately want his image to fill her eyes.

The empire stretching ten thousand li was too heavy a burden, and being alone at the summit was too cold.

She was the only person with whom he wanted to share the splendor of a prosperous age.

[Reading Guide]

1. Typical palace intrigue. The male lead is not a virgin.

2. The heroine is no good person. She will actively harm others and wants power above all else.

Theme: Forge your own path