Imperial Consort, the Emperor’s Woman Is Truly Troublesome
The world loves pure, gentle women, but Ninth Royal Uncle only likes Serena with her head full of cunning schemes. Kindness and weakness? In his eyes, they're just synonyms for hypocrisy.
Get slapped on the left cheek, then offer your right cheek too? Get hit and then make excuses for your attacker? That’s just nonsense. So what if Serena’s a little wicked? Her mischief is adorable—and she owns it without apology.
Ninth Royal Uncle couldn’t help but show a doting smile and asked, "Do you want her to dance or not?"
"Of course I want her to dance! A princess performing as a palace dancer—seeing that in my lifetime would be eye-opening." Serena genuinely regretted missing the spectacle; if she’d known it would be this lively, she would’ve had Ninth Royal Uncle take her to the palace.
A princess who once stood high above everyone, now willing to put on a dancer’s costume and twirl before the crowd just to win the Emperor’s smile, striking a pose to compete for his favor.
"Too bad—Yara didn’t dance." Ninth Royal Uncle poked Serena’s cheek, finding it soft and pleasant to the touch.
"What, Yara really didn’t dance? Isn’t she afraid of angering the Emperor?" Serena looked disappointed. It would’ve been great if Yara had performed in public; the Lyndarian royal family would’ve been ashamed of her for sure.
"She’s scared, but she’s even more afraid of being abandoned by Lyndaria. Still, her so-called clever move ended up offending Eastlyn and making Lyndaria unhappy with her." Ninth Royal Uncle recalled Princess Yara’s refusal, a mocking smile flashing in his eyes.
Women who think they’re too clever always end up outsmarting themselves.
Serena perked up, quickly sitting upright: "Tell me—what exactly did Princess Yara say?"
Such a little troublemaker, always stirring things up. Ninth Royal Uncle saw Serena’s eyes gleaming and didn’t bother keeping her in suspense: "Yara didn’t outright refuse. She just suggested that Princess Serenity should also dance for the sake of friendship between nations."
"Wow, did Princess Yara lose her mind, actually using Princess Serenity as a shield?" Serena exclaimed in surprise.
Ninth Royal Uncle patted her cheek: "Close your mouth, doesn’t it get tired hanging open like that? Princess Yara isn’t stupid—she’s actually very smart. She knew the Emperor would never let Princess Serenity dance, that’s why she said it."
"But that made the Emperor and Empress unhappy. If her royal brother were here, it might be fine, but with him gone, she’s got no real backing for those words." Serena clicked her tongue and shook her head.
Yara really is clever, always trying to please both sides. But doesn’t she know that playing both ends only gets you rejected by everyone?
"You’re right—she really didn’t have the standing to say that. The Empress immediately said that Princess Serenity is a maiden awaiting marriage, so she shouldn’t dance in public. It was just a polite excuse, but Yara thought it sounded like a good reason and claimed she was a maiden awaiting marriage too, so she couldn’t perform." Ninth Royal Uncle let out a soft laugh as he said this.
Clearly, Yara’s words amused him.
"Hahaha, Princess Yara is something else… She’s already out in public, so why pretend to be a sheltered maiden? Princess Serenity really is a maiden awaiting marriage, staying properly in her rooms. But Yara’s at the New Year’s Eve banquet and still dares to say she shouldn’t dance." Serena couldn’t help laughing.
Princess Yara thinks way too highly of herself. She believes everything she does is right—flirting with Prince Evan before marriage, letting people call it ‘true love,’ and thinking she’s done nothing wrong.
Now she’s married to Prince Adrian, claiming it’s for her country—a noble sacrifice. But she doesn’t realize all those compliments come from her princess status. Without it, she’d have been drowned in a pig cage ages ago.
"So when Yara said that, everyone laughed right away. But at least it saved her from the embarrassment of actually dancing. What happened after, I don’t know—I left early." If not for waiting on Yara’s drama, he’d have left ages ago.
So what if Nathan of Southlyn schemed so hard? In the end, Nolan still picked the fruit.
"I doubt anything good happened. Yara’s move didn’t help Lyndaria save face or win favor in Eastlyn." Serena sighed and shook her head—honestly, she thought Yara understood power struggles even less than she did.
As a Lyndarian princess, even after marrying into Eastlyn, no amount of flattery will win her the Emperor’s true affection. His fondness for her comes from Lyndaria’s strength.
As long as Lyndaria stays strong and her father values her, no matter how reckless or spoiled she acts, the Eastlyn Emperor will have to indulge her.
Power determines status. Yara’s two-faced approach is just foolish—even if she wants Eastlyn’s support, she can’t sacrifice Lyndaria’s dignity. For women, the stronger their natal family, the firmer their position in their husband’s house.
Seeing Serena shake her head like that, Ninth Royal Uncle knew exactly what she was thinking and bluntly burst her bubble: "The Lyndarian royals are too busy to care about her. The show you want to see won’t happen."
Even though he’d already sent word of Yara’s behavior back to Lyndaria, things were so chaotic there that no one would bother with it.
Serena glared at Ninth Royal Uncle, half-joking: "I’m not that petty. By the way, you said Rose Su danced—does that mean the Emperor’s going to take her into the harem?"
"Rose Su wants it, and the Emperor’s willing. It’ll happen soon." Ninth Royal Uncle’s words were as good as confirmation. He didn’t say it outright, but everyone present understood.
"What about my contest with the Su clan? We still haven’t finished that match—are we just not doing it anymore?" This contest had dragged on forever. Just thinking of all that silver wagered made Serena’s heart ache.
That much silver—if she could just earn interest on it, imagine how much she’d make.
"Of course the contest will go on. Southlyn’s civil strife is getting worse, so the Emperor doesn’t need to keep Southlyn’s prince here—the match should end soon."
For the Su clan, Serena’s contest was a test of reputation. But for the Emperor and Nathan of Southlyn, it was just a convenient reason for Nathan to stay in Eastlyn.
If the Emperor wanted Nathan to stay, the contest would drag on. If not, it would end. The timing was all in the Emperor’s hands.
"Am I still competing against Rose Su?" Just thinking about that viper gave Serena a headache.
Rose Su was much more formidable than Susan Su—she’d gotten what she wanted and was about to enter the palace as an imperial consort. But without the Su clan, would she still go after Serena at every turn?
Even if Rose Su left her alone, Serena would never forget how she’d used hypnosis against her. At last, there was a chance to settle that score.
"Yes. She’ll enter the palace after the contest." Rose Su needed the match to boost her standing—without the Su clan’s support in Eastlyn, she was on her own.
"So am I supposed to win or lose? If I lose, won’t the Emperor lose face?" Rose Su was just another Su clan girl before, but with the title of imperial consort, things would get complicated.
"Win—just a narrow win. If you lose, Nathan of Southlyn will gloat. He’s bet a fortune on the Su clan beating you." Nathan thought he had the contest in the bag, thinking he could control the pace, but the real power was never his.
Not just the Emperor—even Nolan wouldn’t allow Nathan to win. This time, Nathan would lose so badly he’d cough blood, with no hope of a comeback…
Appendix:
Music: Serena wins
Chess: Unknown
Calligraphy: Serena wins
Painting: Serena wins
Etiquette: Serena loses
Medicine: Serena loses
Martial Arts: Serena loses