A Floating Life Caught in the Game

[Bold, Vengeful Daughter of a Military Family × Cunning, Patient Marquis Seeking Power]

In her previous life, He Yunqing devoted her entire life to helping her childhood sweetheart ascend the throne.

In return, the entire He family was executed, and she herself was left to die trapped in the imperial palace.

When she opened her eyes again, she had returned to the moment the imperial decree arranging her marriage was issued.

Everyone in the capital knew that the He family's legitimate daughter had tried to kill herself rather than accept the marriage, causing an uproar throughout the city.

But when she woke up, all she said was:

"The marriage? Fine."

The man she was going to marry was the one who had ultimately conquered the realm in her previous life: Huo Yanchuan.

*

Huo Yanchuan had lain low for years. The moment he returned to the capital, he found himself with a marquis's wife practically handed to him.

One moment, she had been threatening to end her life; the next, she was smiling as she accepted the marriage.

He didn't ask why. He simply thought that having this pawn at his disposal would work out nicely.

She would take revenge, and he would use her father's military power to seize the throne.

Each would get what they wanted, and neither would owe the other anything.

But He Yunqing found herself wondering more and more:

If it was all just an act, why did he have to make it seem so real?

Until the day he ascended the throne. His palm closed around her slender neck, and his voice was so gentle it sent a chill through her:

"Qingqing, you may take the empress's throne if you wish. If you don't, I'll put you on it myself."

He Yunqing: ?

Had dying in the imperial palace in her past life not been enough? Did she have to go through it all over again?

She refused to believe that was her fate.

That night, she gritted her teeth, changed into a gauzy dress thin as a cicada's wings, and entered the emperor's bedchamber of her own accord.

The red candles burned down, and they spent the night together.

The next morning, Huo Yanchuan felt the empty space beside him on the imperial bed. His expression darkened like a frozen pool. "After keeping me up all night, you still had the energy to run?"

The chief eunuch knelt on the ground, shaking like a leaf. "Y-Your Majesty... Her Majesty spent years campaigning. Her stamina... far surpasses that of ordinary people..."

[Reader's Guide]

A fictional setting, no historical nitpicking | Both leads are each other's only partners | One-on-one romance | Happy ending

Slow burn, everyone has their own ambitions | Both angst and sweetness | Later, the male lead will desperately pursue his wife and suffer for it

Theme: Being loved makes people brave, and loving others gives them strength