Schemes And Conspiracies
Annual Report of the Imperial Harem
I am the most indolent concubine in the Imperial Harem.
The Emperor is currently reading my Annual Slacker Report.
“This year, your name tag was flipped nineteen times. Of those, you were intercepted thirteen times. You actually served in the bedchamber six times, during three of which the Emperor couldn’t perform.”
“This year, you knelt over a thousand times. You called the Noble Consort a ‘bitch’ over ten thousand times, but the number of times you actually said it to her face was zero.”
“Do you remember the Mid-Autumn Banquet?”
“The talent you performed was balancing a pot of wine on your upturned backside, which resulted in half a month’s stipend being docked.”
“This year, your rank and salary have seen no change from last year. In fact, this situation has persisted for three years now.”
“Your keyword for this year is ‘Trash.’ Please keep it up next year.”
Oh no. Am I about to be slacked all the way into the Cold Palace?
The Frog Princess
In the Fifth Year of Taiyuan, at the Start of Summer, a princess died in the Beiliang Royal Palace.
And a toad.
Anping was that unfortunate princess.
And I was that unfortunate toad.
Fortunately, since her death, I have become her.
Top Player
On New Year’s Eve, my husband was trapped on the highway due to a blizzard.
“Honey, you’ve been working so hard. As soon as the snow stops, I’ll rush back home.”
Hearing the exhaustion in his voice, my heart softened.
“Don’t worry, I’ve got everything under control here.”
I spent the rest of the night busy until I was dizzy, right up until my best friend called me.
“Where did you say he was stuck?”
“The Shanghai-Shanxi Expressway.”
“That’s impossible! That road was cleared for traffic six hours ago. Are you sure he’s actually on the highway?”
He Loved Me After I Was Gone
The Emperor’s beloved Noble Consort, his one true love, was dead.
His one true love?
It was almost laughable.
And yet, the rumor had spread throughout all of Dayan.
Vengeance Across Time
July 14, 2018. My flight was delayed due to weather, and I didn’t land until three in the morning.
As soon as I turned on my phone, I received a call from my senior. He told me to get to Baoshan Hospital immediately. Now!
I asked him what was wrong, telling him to explain himself first.
“Xiaoyu,” he said. “Something happened to Xiaoyu.”
My ears began to ring, and a splitting headache took hold.
That day was the third anniversary of my relationship with Qiu Xiaoyu. If the plane hadn’t been delayed, I would have proposed at midnight.
At four-thirty in the morning, I saw her at the hospital.
She was covered with a white sheet. Her exposed skin was deathly pale, and when I took her hand, it was cold and stiff.
It didn’t feel like Xiaoyu’s hand at all.
But the autopsy report stated it clearly: Qiu Xiaoyu had died in a car accident at 6:10 PM at the intersection of Qinghe Road and Wenshuo Road.
“It was a truck. The driver was exhausted and didn’t slow down before… Li Tong!” My senior suddenly grabbed my hand tightly.
My hand was just about to lift the white cloth covering Xiaoyu’s face.
“Let go,” I said.
“Li Tong, it’s better… if you don’t look.”
Choking back a sob, I repeated, “Let go.”
He stopped blocking me.
I slowly pulled back the sheet.
She was still beautiful, her features soft, just like when she tried to sleep in every morning.
Only, there seemed to be a wound on her neck.
And that wound extended downward. It grew deeper and larger, until her entire body…
Was completely destroyed.
I collapsed to my knees.
It felt as if a knife had been driven through my heart. My eyes stung, but there were no tears, and I couldn’t make a single sound.
“Did you forget our anniversary? You have to make it up to me tomorrow.”
I knew it was an auditory hallucination; those were the words from the WeChat message Xiaoyu had sent me.
The final WeChat message of her life.
Our entire story had somehow ended on such an unremarkable sentence…
Suddenly, my throat tightened, and I retched, vomiting up mouthfuls of bile.
Phoenix Dynasty
I am the Crown Princess.
The Crown Prince’s concubine came before me to flaunt her success. “I am already with child, yet you haven’t even been graced with his favor yet, have you, Sister?”
Rather than being angry, I was overjoyed. I fervently instructed the Imperial Physician, “You must ensure the child is protected at all costs.”
I have waited three years for the Eastern Palace to be blessed with a pregnancy.
Now, I can finally dispose of the father, keep the child, and rule from behind the curtain.
Beauty’s Grave
Pei Qi traded cities for a beauty, a grand gesture that became a legendary romance. Unfortunately, I was not that beauty, nor was I Pei Qi; I didn’t even know him.
My husband was merely a soldier defending the city. Because he refused to surrender, he died in that war, though the city was ultimately held.
The following year, when Pei Qi traded cities for his beauty, I became that beauty’s Foot-washing Maid.
Beauty’s Plight
The Crown Prince’s White Moonlight, the woman he’d pined after for ten years, had finally returned.
She lifted her chin and looked down her nose at me. “You. Go back to where you came from.”
I lifted my skirts and stepped into the carriage, then turned back to smile at her. “Sorry,” I said lightly, “but this seat? You’re never getting it back.”
I Doomed Them All
The Crown Prince fell in love with the Mute Girl who saved him and insisted on breaking off our engagement.
Out of kindness, I advised him:
“The Mute Girl is alone and without support. Why not take her as a concubine first?”
The Mute Girl felt humiliated and, overwhelmed by shame and anger, took her own life.
Ten years later, the first thing the Crown Prince did after securing the throne was to depose me as Empress and exterminate my entire clan.
“This is what you all owe Ruoruo.”
When I awoke again, it was the day of my sixteenth Birthday Banquet.
The person seated at the head of the table asked me what I wished for.
“I only wish for Your Highness the Crown Prince and Miss Liu… to grow old together in harmony, forever united in heart.”
I bowed reverently:
“Your Majesty, please bestow a marriage upon the two of them!”