The Consort's Smile: Three Thousand Beauties

Her beauty could not last, and her youth had already passed. So much had changed in the blink of an eye. Years flowed like water, flowers fell, and all she could do was sigh as life shifted like drifting clouds, time and again... When did she change from an innocent, adorable princess who knew only the comfort of everyone's affection into someone full of schemes, plotting against her own birth mother? With no one to rely on, she could neither escape nor find shelter in this harem where the consorts fought without end. All she could do was grow stronger and stronger. Her heart had grown numb and cold, and she no longer cried. He often wondered, too: she was only a princess of the realm, so why had she become so deeply mired in the harem? She joined forces with the consorts to resist her empress mother, using methods so seasoned and ruthless they were unbecoming of a young girl. The harem was where she grew up. Whether facing a favored consort or one of the lowest-ranking women, she was no longer a simple princess. Until one day, someone told her, “Qingning, you can keep the harem in balance because you don't compete for favor. In a harem where the strong prey on the weak, and the weak prey on the weaker, only you can stand independently.” That person was her father, the emperor. So he had known all along and had used her to keep the harem in balance. Nothing could have unsettled her more. She finally understood that she, too, was a chess piece, just like everyone else. If she could, she would become a drop of water and fly into the burning flames, perish with the fire, and vanish with the wind, leaving forever... For a consort, the saddest thing is not being unloved. It's never knowing which of the women around you are sincere. In the vast imperial palace, fear sweeps in with the night. Loneliness, it turns out, is not something one can simply get used to. This harem makes everyone tremble, and draws everyone into its depths, whether they are princesses or consorts at the height of favor. Wealth and splendor, a phoenix crown, magnificent court robes: everything is intoxicating and captivating. It is enchanting and dazzling, yet it numbs the heart and takes lives without warning. Three thousand consorts, countless beauties, schemes and rivalries, deceit and betrayal... Each of them is part of this palace, and none can break free from the shackles of fate. They call each other sisters to their faces, then stab each other in the back. Isn't that the truth? After all the splendor has faded, when you look back and see the fading remnants of a dream, all that remains is a quiet sigh: What made us follow so recklessly in the beginning? It turns out the moth mocked for flying into the flames was us all along... Original title: Palace Ballad of Yunyan