The Emperor had celebrated Bai Lian’s promotion with a week-long banquet. But as always, his excessive favor didn’t end there.

Chengliang created a lake of wine for Bai Lian, at her residence.

This followed Bai Lian’s refusal of fifty jars of peach blossom wine initially offered as a reward.

“Ha ha, what’s the big deal about it? Surely, you can finish that much by yourself, right?”

That was the only item they couldn’t agree upon.

Bai Lian believed rewards should be within reasonable limits. Was there really a need to combine the roles of Head General and Great General?

And beyond that, was it necessary to empty an entire orchard to brew fresh peach blossom wine for her, especially when the Chief General’s position and its corresponding territories were already more than ample?

However, Chengliang thought differently. He believed Bai Lian needed such grand rewards, something unprecedented, unimaginable by others.

In that sense, a lake made from those fifty jars of wine was more effective than the wine itself.

“Your Majesty, if I try to drink all the wine in that lake by myself, I’ll end up with alcohol poisoning and disgrace myself.”

As Chengliang suggested, Bai Lian indeed had a good tolerance for liquor. But the problem was that the wine was summer-season peach blossom wine, which could go bad within a week. Drinking all fifty jars herself seemed like a sure path to illness.

Thus, Bai Lian organized the banquet. It was a perfect means to share the precious wine with her comrades and show off a little.

In the end, the repeated battle over rewards was won by Chengliang this time. He wore a victor’s relaxed smile, pointing at the wine lake.

“I should’ve hung some cattle or pigs from that tree too, for snacks.”

“Please, spare me that.”

If the garden was filled with the smell of animal blood instead of the fragrance of peach blossom wine, Bai Lian would leave the house without a second thought. She had plenty of estates; there was no need to stay in the capital.

Reading her expression, Chengliang chuckled lightly.

“Then just accept the fifty cattle I’ll send next.”

“…The rewards aren’t over yet?”

“If I created a new position for you, the rewards should be unprecedented, shouldn’t they?”

“The new position itself is unprecedented enough.”

“Ha ha.”

Chengliang laughed dryly, looking again at the wine lake.

Threatened implicitly with more cattle hanging from the trees, Bai Lian quickly changed her stance.

“Will they be alive?”

“Why? Planning to raise them?”

“Yes. I was thinking of creating a system to loan cattle to impoverished farmers. I’d like to try it in my territory first, and if it works well, maybe expand it throughout the empire.”

“…Were you thinking about such things, General Bai?”

“Working for the empire is as vital to me as breathing. How could I stop thinking about ways to benefit the people?”

Chengliang sighed deeply. He knew Bai Lian never took off her mask of the perfect official, even in front of him, which sometimes irritated him.

She could relax a bit in front of him. Even if she weren’t always the conscientious official, he wouldn’t abandon her.

“Do you know the taste of liquor diminishes every time you do this?”

Bai Lian quickly brightened up.

“That’s good to hear. Perhaps it’s time to reduce your alcohol intake. The imperial physician was just expressing concern for your well-being.”

Contradicting his earlier complaint about the taste, Chengliang drained his cup and held it out for more.

“Pour.”
Passing the cup around was against etiquette, but the Emperor was above both etiquette and the law.

So, Bai Lian quickly scanned the surroundings and, confirming that no one was watching, accepted Chengliang’s cup.

“Truly meticulous.”

Chengliang chuckled lightly as he filled the cup. The fragrant scent of peach blossom wine tantalized her senses.

“Lacking in dignity?”

Chengliang asked this after Bai Lian downed the cup in one gulp. It was an unexpected question, but Bai Lian didn’t retort.

“Your reasons for hosting such, almost un-festive, banquets are clear. It’s to assert your dominance, a sort of… hierarchy establishment.”

When Bai Lian first pledged her allegiance to Chengliang, her position was highly ambiguous.

The Jin Empire, before becoming an empire, was originally a federation of seven smaller kingdoms. Among these seven, the Li and Zi families were prominent, with Bai Lian belonging to the Li family.

Initially, the Li family had the strongest voice, effectively leading the federation. Therefore, when Chengliang’s elder brother, Zi Hongyuan, sought to expand his influence, the Li family was his primary target.

Zi Hongyuan besieged the Li capital for three years with relentless attacks. When the Li family finally surrendered, only children under 15 and elders over 70 were spared.

Although they surrendered and came under Zi, the relationship was anything but cordial. Bai Lian, at one point, even served as the head of the Li family.

When scheming men desperately battle for her favor in the male harem

This one’s also on my reread list! The rivalry, scheming between the men in the imperial harem are just as intense and thrilling as in classic palace drama novels, where concubines fight to the death. Give it a read, girls! I promise you won’t be disappointed.

Synopsis:

“I am not worthy of her… but I still want to be by her side, even if only as a loyal dog…”

Those were the painful whispers of Yue Guanyi – the proud Crown Prince of the Great Qi, who was torn between deep love and a guilty conscience. Despite holding the supreme power of the Imperial Guard, he still could not forget the dark past when he was sold into a brothel.

Fate played a cruel twist when Qiu Shuzhi – a young female official who had just passed the imperial examinations with top honors – stepped into his life. She did not know that she was the one who had saved him from a tragic fate many years ago. And now, her heart was the target of pursuit for both Yue Guanyi and the powerful Empress Dowager Qin Qing.

While Yue Guanyi only dared to silently care for and protect the one he loved from afar, the  Empress Dowager Qin Qing openly expressed his feelings and did not hesitate to take advantage of his power to approach Qiu Shuzhi. The covert struggle between the two most powerful forces in the imperial court began…

Trigger warning: All men in this novel are yandere style.

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