You Were Born a Phoenix Lord

[Cold, Frail Empress x Devoted Young Consort | Forbidden Love in the Inner Palace | Mutual Salvation]

"Your Majesty, this concubine is willing to trade ten years of her life for your safety and good health, year after year."

Shen Qinghuang is the most revered empress of Great Liang, and also the loneliest shadow in the imperial palace. The emperor is heartless, the six palaces fear her, and even her personal maids dare not meet the chill in her eyes. Then a young consort named Su Luo arrives, carrying a bowl of medicine whose prescription she altered on her own, and stumbles into her frozen world...

She prays for Shen Qinghuang, willing to shorten her own life for her sake. She takes the cup of poisoned wine meant for her and dares to whisper when no one else is around:

"None of them can compare to Your Majesty."

Shen Qinghuang assumes it's no more than innocent admiration, until, beneath the shadow of a parasol tree, she pins Su Luo against the trunk and asks in a husky voice:

"Su Luo, have you... fallen for me?"

The young consort kisses her fingertips, trembling. "This concubine confesses her guilt."

Later, as the Fengyi Palace goes up in flames, she tears off her phoenix crown and its strings of pearls, holding Su Luo tightly amid the blaze.

"I don't want the throne anymore. I only want you."

■ She's caught red-handed secretly keeping a lock of the empress's hair. Shen Qinghuang tips up her chin. "Tell me, why did you hide it?" Tears well in Su Luo's eyes. "This concubine... only wanted something to remember you by."

■ "I grant you the title of Noble Consort." The emperor corners Su Luo against the wall. The palace doors burst open, and Shen Qinghuang stands there with a sword in hand, her eyes rimmed with ice. "How dare you touch someone who belongs to me?"

■ On the night of the coup, she ascends the jade steps one by one, looking down at the ashen-faced emperor on the dragon throne. She smiles. "Your Majesty, it's time to step down."

◆Reader's Guide◆

1. Two female leads, one-on-one in body and soul, happy ending.

2. The empress is cold-hearted at first, then becomes unhinged; the consort seems obedient on the surface but is obsessive underneath.

3. Palace intrigue and political scheming, with a sweet romance and intense emotional tension.

4. Five-year age gap and forbidden relationship due to their positions.

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