The Discarded Empress

In the nth year after the empress was deposed and died, I began to think of her obsessively.

Please read before starting:

This was an idea I wanted to write about a few years ago. Since I don't have the energy to make it a long novel, I've decided to finish it as a short story of a few tens of thousands of words. Updates may be irregular, but it should be completed.

The female lead is already dead when the story begins. It's told mainly from the male lead's perspective, the emperor's, and most of the time the female lead exists in his memories. The story includes, but is not limited to, a trash man desperately trying to win his wife back, a genuine crematorium-style redemption arc, the male lead being utterly defeated by the second female lead, the second male lead taking his place, sister-in-law literature, past and present lives, and more.

P.S. The male lead is sexually experienced; the second male lead is not. The female lead and male lead had a sexual relationship.

I rarely write historical fiction, so the writing may be average. I don't know how many potential landmines there are, so enter with caution. Please don't insult the author.

Theme: Pluck the flower while it is still in bloom. Don't wait until there are no flowers left to break off a branch.