The Girl Who Struggled Through Palace Intrigues to Become the Empress - Chapter 2: Fragrant Tea

To care for her ailing sweetheart, college student Lu Chenchen gave up her white-collar office job and chose the higher-paying caretaker profession instead. Going around in circles, she ended up at the Mao family’s home.

The Mao family background was complicated. Old Madam Mao was not her son Yanning’s birth mom, but his young aunt. His wife was Old Madam Mao’s first love’s daughter, spoiled and pampered. Despite over ten years of marriage, husband and wife were distant.

To repay Old Madam Mao’s kindness in raising him, and for the sake of his three children, Mao Yanning endured again and again – not just a loveless but outright destructive marriage.

Lu Chenchen walked on eggshells among these people – carefully serving young and old, currying favor with the lady of the house without offending the man of the house, while also worrying about his sweetheart’s illness and missing “his” elders and children back home. Her heart was like a cookie flattened between the pages of life, living a difficult and cautious existence.

However, as the saying goes, “You reap what you sow.” A life that has been polished will eventually shine with a brilliance that ordinary years cannot compare.

The number one swordsman Zhao Jiangui is the martial world’s best hope for peace: All he has to do is seduce the Demon Sect Leader.

WARNING: DARK AND MATURE CONTENT. Readers discretion advised.Serena Alaric wanted nothing more than a quiet life, far from the shadows of her family’s dark past. But when masked enforcers storm her home and drag her into the clutches of the Council of Vitae, she learns her blood is the key to a deadly legacy she never asked for.Lucian Draven is the cold and ruthless leader of a powerful mafia syndicate, cursed to endure unimaginable pain. The Council claims Serena is his only salvation. Yet beneath the Council’s polished facade lies a web of lies, experiments, and betrayal that runs far deeper than either of them imagined.Forced into an uneasy alliance and given a time limit to produce an heir, Serena and Lucian must navigate a treacherous world of power and manipulation, where trust is a rare commodity. As they uncover the truth about the Council’s sinister plans, their hatred begins to give way to something unexpected—a bond forged in fire and blood.But with enemies closing in from all sides and time running out, Serena and Lucian must decide: will they fight their fates, or embrace the dangerous connection that could either save them, or destroy them both?

World ended on 12:31:2024DING!WELCOME TO REBIRTH: 100 DAYS BEFORE DOOMSDAY!Grace Blackwood survived five long years in the apocalypse before she was killed by her own people. Miraculously, she returned to the past with the help of her family's heirloom - exactly 100 days before the Doomsday.Having a space that was upgraded with a system, she took her revenge, stockpiled supplies for the future, and made necessary deals and connections.In her last life, she was alone. But this time, she found four men who were loyal to her and were ready to die just to keep her safe.In her previous life, she lost her most trusted people, but this time, she was ready to do anything to save them.This time, she was ready to face the apocalypse - stronger and better than the past.* * *Warning: This is a Reverse Harem Romance with mature content.