So I’d Already Been the Emperor’s Favorite All Along

He is a cold and ruthless emperor who rules over all under heaven, frugal, devoted to his people, and uninterested in women. In his entire life, he makes only one exception: allowing a servant girl to live in his imperial bedchamber. She is the daughter of a wealthy merchant family, restrained, polite, reserved, and shy. But she entrusts herself to the wrong man, and is betrayed by her fiancé and sees her entire family slaughtered. To take revenge, she changes her appearance and becomes the emperor’s personal maid, doing everything she can to please him. He keeps her safe, grants her power, and showers her with affection, yet refuses to give her a title. Years later, after he removes the powerful court magnates and secures his empire, and after she has avenged her family, she resolutely turns to leave. He blocks the palace gates with an eight-bearer bridal sedan, ready to marry her in a proper ceremony. Only then does she realize she had long since become the most beloved woman in the imperial harem!