Seeking a Better Marriage, Rising Through Palace Intrigue: This Consort Wants Only Wealth and Glory

[Both Reborn + Palace Intrigue + Not Both Pure + Clear-Eyed Heroine + Devoted Love Later On] In her previous life, Su Ruoli was intimate with a wealthy merchant’s illegitimate son just before entering the palace selection. Her chance at selection was ruined. To keep their family from being implicated, her half-sister took her place and entered the palace as a consort. She was immediately named Beauty Rou and enjoyed a life of boundless splendor. Although Su Ruoli married beneath her station and bore no children for three years, her husband, Chen Zilin, treated her like a precious treasure and cherished her deeply. Su Ruoli was the most beautiful woman in Yuncheng, yet she became a merchant’s wife. The world couldn’t help but feel sorry for her, though seeing that the couple treated each other with respect, people simply said that everyone had their own fate. Her half-sister rose steadily through the ranks, and their father climbed several ranks in office along with her. With the Su family as an ally, and Su Ruoli running around to cultivate connections and smooth things over, Chen Zilin’s career also soared. Little did she know that it had all been a deception from the very beginning. She caught her husband and half-sister conspiring together, only for them to join forces and hang her in the inner residence. They even made it look as though she had died from exhaustion during childbirth. Their contrived first encounter, her half-sister taking her place, and her three childless years had all been part of their plan. She died a miserable death in the inner residence, full of hatred. Chen Zilin then used her death as an excuse to hold a funeral procession for her for three days, winning himself a reputation for loyalty and devotion. When Su Ruoli opened her eyes again, she no longer listened to her half-sister’s slander and simply stayed home to await selection. This time, she would enter the palace and fight for power and a high position. She would take back everything that belonged to her! She would make those who wronged her pay, and make those who harmed her repay their blood debt! But an emperor’s favor is fickle. The slightest misstep could drag her entire family into disaster and see them all executed. She didn’t want to stake her life on a man, so she had no choice but to play all sides and win over both the Empress Dowager and the emperor. But why is the emperor so different from what she expected?