Three Thousand Harem Beauties, So What If I Give Up?

In her previous life, she defeated everyone and helped her child ascend the throne. She became the winner of the imperial harem and, in a single day, the Empress Dowager. After a brief moment of joy, endless loneliness awaited her. She had defeated everyone, but in doing so, she had also lost everyone who loved her. Her parents, her siblings, her close friends, and him. Cui Xiu had thought that loneliness alone was torment enough. But what shocked her was that the new emperor was not her son. The “fruits” of all her painstaking efforts belonged to someone else, and the person for whom she had plotted and schemed was “someone else's.” In the end, she lost both her wealth and her loved ones, and her reputation was ruined. ** In this life, she received guidance from a sage and learned a profound truth: “It is precisely because one does not contend that no one under heaven can contend with them.” Rather than becoming a laughingstock who “fights until their head is bloodied,” she would much rather be a laid-back person who wants nothing from the world, quietly waiting for the show to begin. ** The emperor intends to assess the abilities of his princes and choose the heir to the Eastern Palace. While the other princes' mothers scheme and plan for their sons, Cui Xiu eats, sleeps, listens to music, and watches performances in the palace. “Why doesn't Your Highness help the Fifth Prince compete?” asked Li Qun, Duke of Xu, standing behind her chair. “If it's a contest I can't win, why bother struggling in vain?” Cui Xiu said, scattering fish food into the lake. “How do you know you can't win?” Li Qun replied with a smile. Cui Xiu said nothing, but she already knew the answer. She had competed before, and found it pointless. “With me here, no one can hold Your Highness down.” Li Qun rested a hand on Cui Xiu's shoulder, a smile curling at the corner of his lips. Beneath the night sky, Cui Xiu raised a hand to cover Li Qun's and turned to look at him. “Is that so? And what about you?”