The Noble Consort Could Never Not Love Me

My next novel: “My Third Year as a Caged Bird.” The blurb is at the end. Love you!

In the sixth year of Jingrui, the emperor issued an edict appointing Qian Jiawan, the legitimate daughter of Prince Yue, as his consort.

In private, Qian Jiawan was seventy percent satisfied with the marriage. The title of Noble Consort was sufficiently prestigious; the empress dowager had died early, so there would be no mother-in-law; and the Grand Empress Dowager was a close friend of her grandmother's and doted on her.

As for the so-called husband, well, he was rather handsome.

On their wedding day, the emperor laid down three rules for her.

Behind her round fan, Qian Jiawan had to repeatedly restrain herself to keep from grinning.

She wouldn't have to fulfill the duties of a consort, yet she could enjoy her stipend in peace.

How could a marriage this wonderful exist?

Fu Yunheng had ascended the throne as a teenager, taken charge of the government at sixteen, and held the court firmly in his grasp by the time he came of age.

His imperial grandmother had chosen a Noble Consort for him. He assumed she would simply be an idle woman in his harem. As long as she behaved herself, there would be room for her in the palace.

For several months after their marriage, things went just as he had expected. His Noble Consort was gentle and sensible, always mindful of her place.

Every smile and frown of hers was graceful and lively. She was peerlessly beautiful and, above all, thoughtful and attentive toward him. She sent him nourishing soups and embroidered scented sachets, every stitch expressing her affection.

Though she longed for his company, she never clung to him in her free time. She was so docile and obedient that it broke his heart.

Fu Yunheng couldn't help thinking that he could indulge and spoil her a little more.

Three years after the Noble Consort entered the palace, everyone said the emperor doted on her and had left the imperial harem empty for her sake.

Though the Noble Consort was not a young lady from the capital, the emperor was still determined to defy all opposition and make her empress.

But on the night before the Noble Consort's birthday, Fu Yunheng stood by the window and heard the woman he loved laughing with her maid in the inner room.

“In another two years, I can gradually stop taking the medicine and have a prince. Once he's grown and made a prince, I'll go with him to his fief and become the Dowager Princess. I'll be free to do as I please. Better yet, we can live far from the capital, somewhere close to Qiantang.”

Her eyes were full of anticipation. On the other side of the wall, Fu Yunheng slowly clenched the decree appointing her empress inside his sleeve.

Later, in the Golden Hall, the beauty who had failed to leave the capital was held in the emperor's palm.

In the dim bedroom, Fu Yunheng's fingertips slowly traced her delicate, lovely face.

“Remember,” he said, his gaze dark. “This is the only place that belongs to you.”

Reading guide

1. The male lead is sexually inexperienced, no need to say more. He has no harem, neither in name nor in reality.

2. There will be no national enmity or family vendettas between the leads.

Coming soon: “My Third Year as a Caged Bird”

A little over a year after the emperor ascended the throne, the first consort was finally appointed to his harem.

At the Longevity Banquet, one sharp-eyed courtier noticed at a single glance that the peerlessly beautiful Noble Consort beside the emperor bore an eight-in-ten resemblance to Shen Dianzhong.

Born to the Pingyang Marquis household, he had topped the imperial examinations at sixteen and risen quickly through the ranks during his three years at court. He had even managed to escape unscathed when the powerful Princess Yongle forced him into marriage, without suffering any setbacks to his career.

Unfortunately, he had chosen the wrong sovereign to support. When the late emperor died, he did not pass the throne to his own son, but returned it to the line of Emperor Wu.

After the current emperor ascended the throne, Princess Yongle was stripped of her power and exiled to guard the imperial tombs. Shen Dianzhong was among the first to be imprisoned.

Everyone thought he had confessed and been punished. After all, he had formed a faction, plotted against the emperor several times, and committed countless capital offenses.

Was this simply a coincidence in their appearance?

The court officials kept their eyes down and their thoughts to themselves, daring not to speak too loudly.

The hall was filled with the clink of cups and lively conversation. On the throne, Pei Yao'an casually pressed a hand against the wine cup beside him. “Only half a cup more.”

That night, in Zichen Hall.

The sounds from the bed gradually subsided. The emperor's slender hand caressed the jade-like face of the person in his arms, watching as the flush slowly faded.

He said, “You've been rather well-behaved lately. What are you plotting now, hmm?”

Shen Mingyu closed her eyes and pretended to sleep. “Your Majesty is so hard to please.”

Pei Yao'an knew her temperament well. Of course he knew she would never obediently follow orders.

But it didn't matter. He chuckled.

She would never escape his grasp.

Note: Dianzhong refers to a Dianzhong Shiyushi, a fifth-rank palace censor.

1. Both leads are sexually inexperienced, no need to say more.

2. The heroine isn't the type to meekly put up with things. She won't stay in the harem alone.

Theme: Understanding and cherishing each other, and loving as equals.