Two-faced Noble Consort x sinister, vicious eunuch who crawls through the shadows
Hua Mao came from a family of military commanders and had a tongue sharp enough to drip poison.
Once she entered the palace, she suppressed her temper and cautiously ingratiated herself with others, trying to balance her family's glory against the emperor's suspicions. She was terrified of angering him and bringing disaster upon her family.
But lately the capricious tyrant had been acting strangely.
He suspected everyone in the harem of secretly being unfaithful to him, yet doted on her and indulged her every whim.
Then one day, he even assigned her a handsome, brooding young eunuch.
At first sight of the young eunuch, the heart that had been numbed by the hardships of palace life stirred for the first time.
Thinking of the dozens of sisters who had been banished to the Cold Palace, Hua Mao closed her eyes and forced herself to swallow.
What a brilliant ploy: dangling bait to catch a turtle!
Danger!!
To prove her sincerity toward the emperor, she treated the young eunuch coldly, beat and berated him at the slightest excuse, and made his life miserable.
Yet in the dead of night, when no one was around, she couldn't help changing her appearance and bringing him warmth and comfort with gentle words, to soothe what little conscience she had left.
-
Xiao Chu had neither father nor mother, and was of lowly birth. Barely ten days after entering the palace, he was assigned to serve as the Noble Consort's personal eunuch.
The Noble Consort was cruel, arrogant, and domineering. She did nothing but beat and scold him, while the servants watched her face and kicked him when he was down every day.
Fortunately, even in the cold palace, there was still a spark of warmth willing to reach out to him.
The woman he loved was willful and capricious, yet she risked everything to obtain medicine for his injuries from the Imperial Medical Bureau. In the dead of night, when no one was around, she would lean against him and complain with him about their master's bad temper. She would gently touch his wounds, her eyes reddening with concern.
To marry the woman he loved openly and honorably, he carefully schemed, offering countless underhanded plans to help the Noble Consort win the emperor's favor and earn the trust of both her and the emperor. Bit by bit, he gathered power.
Until one morning, as usual, he brought the Noble Consort hot water. A breeze lifted the bed curtains, revealing a stretch of snow-white waist.
A birthmark there, bright as peach blossoms, was exactly like the one on the woman he loved!
His fingers gripped the rim of the copper basin until they turned white. Xiao Chu knelt beside the bed, listening to the woman on it speak gently to the emperor, his eyes roiling with dark emotion.
-
At first, Hua Mao had only meant to use her identity as a palace maid to have a little fun with the young eunuch. But lately, she had found it harder and harder to read the emotions hidden in those dark eyes.
She was even terrified by the malice and possessiveness he sometimes let show.
Hoping to end this unstable relationship, as precarious as walking on a tightrope, Hua Mao coaxed him into drinking a cup of poison one night.
After that, the world was vast, and she had no ties to him anymore. She remained the most radiant and dazzling Noble Consort Zhao in the harem, still the doddering vine most beloved by the emperor.
Hua Mao simply never expected to see that wolf cub again.
Years apart had stripped away his youthful innocence. The brutality and coldness in his eyes now made her tremble.
A man dressed in black, carrying an iron sword, walked step by step toward her bed, treading through the blood that covered the palace.
The cold gleam of his sword reflected her disheveled expression.
The tip of his sword stopped just an inch from her. It moved from her abdomen to her heart, then pointed at her throat...
"Noble Consort, you were the one who approached me. Even a eunuch with a body that's incomplete isn't something you can play with and cast aside whenever you like."
His eyes curved into a smile as he pressed his forehead affectionately to hers. "This lesson, I will make sure you learn firsthand."
*
1. Neither the male nor female lead is a good person. They hurt each other.
2. The heroine is not a virgin, while the hero is. The heroine is the emperor's consort and has physical relations with him early on. If that bothers you, this story isn't for you.
3. The male lead is not castrated, but he is a real eunuch.
Theme: Hardship and adversity refine a person
