Demoted from Consort to Maid? I'll Play the Beloved-First-Love Role to Perfection

Before she turned twenty-six, Hang Hanzhen went from being the lowliest kitchen maid to one of the concubines in the late emperor's harem. When the crisis came, she was entrusted with raising the Seventh Prince, the son of the late empress. She did everything she could and taught him all she knew, training the young wolf to rein in his claws, understand propriety, and study poetry and the classics. All she had to do was wait for him to take the throne, and her life would finally be peaceful, with a clear path ahead. Then the new emperor, Fu Xian, issued an edict. She went from being the prince's foster mother and a Grand Consort to a lady-in-waiting in charge of his bedchamber. Hang Hanzhen nearly coughed up blood. To protect her already precarious reputation, Hang Hanzhen decided to do one last good deed: she would have nothing more to do with him. She never expected karma to come so quickly. The blade at her neck pressed in a little further. The Marquis of Mingjie, graceful and charming in everything he did, could no longer hide the fox's tail behind his almost demonic cunning. “Are you sure you won't regret getting mixed up in this with me?” Hang Hanzhen looked ready to cry. “If Your Lordship doesn't mind that I was once a concubine and have raised a child...” Their breaths mingling, he laughed with carefree abandon. “Perfect. I'll hold a wedding banquet for you, and you'll find a better man, one more worthy of your trust for life.” (The male and female leads' two storylines begin in parallel; the ending is one-on-one.) (Multiple storylines and perspectives, not a single point of view. If that bothers you, don't read.)