“Some people say, in the Imperial Harem favor has always been more important than a sincere heart. In the past, she didn’t believe that. She mustered up all her strength, held back and backed off, just because he said he’d protect her well. In the blink of an eye, she ended up as an abandoned concubine of the Cold Palace.
Is it because people’s hearts are changeable or because the Emperor used it to make his own moves? The answer is no longer important. The important thing is that from the day she left the Cold Palace, she didn’t want to remain a pale gem buried in the depths of Inner Palace. From the former intimate maidservant Ā'Ruò, to the arrogant and domineering Noble Consort Huì, to the cunning and circumspect Empress Fùchá… she chases each one of them step by step with a smile on her face. However, when her enemies fall one by one, the truth becomes even more confusing.
In this ruthless and rigorous plot, who is planning, who is calculating and who is the biggest beneficiary behind the scenes? How did the passionate, dark and suspicious Emperor cool her once warm heart, one step at a time?
All are vying to be the most gorgeous flower to bloom in the Palace gardens but they don’t know that no matter how beautiful they’re, they will end up dead and defeated unless they become the owner of this garden…“
This novel is perhaps one of my favorite story with political rollercoaster dumpster fire inside the royal harem that I have the utmost pleasure to encounter so far
“In the Imperial Harem, status and power are always related to the emperor’s grace. The open and veiled struggles between concubines is like a cold winter that chills to the bone. As Hónglì, the 4th Prince, ascends the throne, the power and influence in the Imperial Harem changes greatly. The Ula-Nara clan’s identity used to bring supreme glory and status to the secondary consort Qīngyīng (青樱), but now it feels like a thorn in her back. All the nobility and grace she had gained in the emperor’s Prince Mansion is gone. All questions and complaints can only be buried in the endless time of the Inner Palace. To protect herself and start over, Qīngyīng asks the Dowager Empress a new name - "Rúyì” (如懿), which means “beautiful and quiet”, but can the word “tolerance” really stop the unstoppable waves in the Harem?“
