Chu Zhengze ascended the throne at the age of seven. Before his seat was even warm, he was forced by the formidable Grand Empress Dowager to escort the person he loathed most into the palace. That person was Xue Yurun, the legitimate granddaughter of the powerful Prime Minister Xue.

From that day on, their lives became a battlefield of petty grievances. Xue Yurun loved meat, yet Chu Zhengze never saw a speck of it on their shared dining table. Chu Zhengze was deathly afraid of dogs, yet Xue Yurun raised seven of them that acted more like royalty than he did. To make matters worse, Prime Minister Xue forced the Emperor to memorize stacks of books as tall as a man. He woke up earlier than a rooster and slept later than a dog, yet it was always Xue Yurun who was cuddled as a “darling” in the Grand Empress Dowager’s arms.

Unsurprisingly, Xue Yurun was the “arch-nemesis” he had been at odds with since childhood.

One night, fuming and unable to sleep, Chu Zhengze was grumbling to himself in the dark. Beside him, the culprit, Xue Yurun, was having a lovely dream. With a practiced tug and a kick, she rolled the entire quilt under herself and sent the Emperor flying off the dragon bed.

Chu Zhengze crawled up from the floor, gnashing his teeth. He pulled the quilt back out, gently tucked her in, and only then crawled back into bed.

In her deep sleep, the little Empress unconsciously snuggled into his arms and hugged him affectionately.

The frustrated little Emperor found a comfortable position for her, pulled the covers tight, and thought:

“I will definitely settle the score with her tomorrow!”

The noble ladies of the capital grew up knowing two things:

The “unrefined” little granddaughter of the all-powerful Prime Minister Xue was the guaranteed Empress.

The relationship between the Imperial couple was terrible. The Emperor’s most frequent phrase was, “I shall surely settle the score with you tomorrow!”

However, the ladies waited from childhood until they reached marriageable age, and then until they had children and grandchildren of their own. Yet, that “tomorrow” never seemed to arrive.

Or perhaps, keeping the harem empty and doting on only one person was his way of “settling the score.”

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