[The rise of a spoiled, scheming concubine: a gorgeous little troublemaker]
Three years after entering the palace, Ning Chiying was still the lowest-ranking laundry maid in Lady Yang's quarters.
When Lady Yang fell out of favor, Ning Chiying was punished alongside her, forced to kneel by Jiang Pin, a concubine newly arrived at the palace.
One autumn afternoon, the emperor took a sudden fancy to go boating on Taiye Lake. He saw many palace servants kneeling on the ground in punishment, but his gaze lingered on just one of them.
The young woman's features were elegant, her face radiant. Several strands of black hair clung damply to her forehead with sweat, yet she refused to bow her head.
Then her soft gaze met his by chance, and she looked away in alarm.
At first, everyone in the harem thought the emperor had merely taken a passing fancy to a palace maid. A beautiful servant with no family or children could rise no higher than Jieyu.
Yet Ning Chiying climbed from palace maid to Meiren, then from Meiren to Jieyu, Zhaoyi, and even Guifei, all in just two years.
Flowers never bloom for a hundred days, but Noble Consort Ning kept rising, her favor never waning, until she monopolized the emperor's affection in the imperial chambers.
She knew an emperor's affections were fickle, but she had spent three years living on tears and rice. Ning Chiying knew exactly what she wanted.
She wanted to enjoy this wealth and splendor forever. She would climb to the top by any means necessary.
Theme: Better to stop than to keep filling a vessel to the brim
