After I Forcefully Took the Regent King for Myself

Princess Ling Zhaowu spent the first half of her life adored by her imperial parents, spoiled, domineering, and used to doing as she pleased.

In the end, her mother began to suspect her, while her brothers and sisters grew wary and schemed against her.

After dying, Ling Zhaowu returned to her youth, when imperial favor was at its height.

Living a second time, she finally saw the undercurrents beneath the outward glory.

To secure her footing as soon as possible, she set her sights on General Zhou Yan, who had just returned victorious from battle.

He always wore a sinister, ugly mask, and he came from a humble family.

In her previous life, she wouldn't have spared someone like him a glance.

Yet this son of a humble family would later use his military achievements and iron fist to rise step by step, becoming a marquis and ruling a fief before eventually taking control of the court as regent.

Ling Zhaowu went over with a cup of wine to offer him a toast, only for him to splash it onto the ground.

She was so frustrated she could hardly contain herself. On her way back to her residence, she saw a young servant who was exceptionally handsome, with healthy skin and well-proportioned muscles, nothing like those aristocratic young men in the capital.

Ling Zhaowu's old habits took over. That very day, she had someone investigate his background, then had him washed and sent to her room that night.

The man knelt on the ground and looked up at her. His posture was deferential, but his eyes and brows betrayed a shadow of menace.

"They say the princess takes a new lover every month and has insatiable appetites. Is that true?"

"Be quiet."

Ling Zhaowu slowly drew out a brand-new leather whip.

Later, Ling Zhaowu defeated a host of mortal enemies, but only she and Zhou Yan fought over power until they were bitterly at odds.

Later still, she lost anyway.

She drank a cup of poisoned wine without a hint of fear. Who would have thought that when she awoke, she would be in his residence?

Zhou Yan wore a robe embroidered with eight golden dragons. He slowly removed his mask, revealing the very man who had lain beneath her bed night after night.

The young regent looked down at her, gripped her chin, and asked,

"Are you still looking for the Xue brothers and Zhang Xiaolang?"

Ling Zhaowu closed her eyes, unwilling to speak.

She heard a sigh, then felt his hand, rough with calluses, take hers.

When she looked down, a soft silk whip had appeared in her hand.

"I have court early tomorrow. Go easy on me."

Ling Zhaowu thought for a moment, then suddenly smiled, her radiant face utterly alluring.

"But I like your riding crop, General. What am I supposed to do?"

Theme: Love grows over time