FL was originally a fisherman's daughter from some southern province. During a natural disaster, she was separated from her family and lost contact with her beloved father and brothers in the aftermath (mother died of illness before that I think) and ended up wandering around for employment for a while before a nobleman from the capital took a fancy to her and made her his woman. This man was the current Empress's brother (well nominal brother. He's actually the son of the late-Emperor and some other woman outside the imperial harem... maybe an official's wife, I can't remember man it's been a while). I'll call him the 3rd ML since he actually shows up third among the love interests in the novel.

The 3rd ML has a shameful background and was given to a powerful family to raise as their legitimate adopted son because the late-Emperor wanted to kill two birds with one stone (make up for his lack of care for this son by giving him a powerful backing and also taking the heirdom from such a powerful naval-army-owning family by installing his own blood as their successor). The noble family's plan was actually to have 3rd ML marry their biological daughter and strengthen his ties and loyalty to the clan, but due to a series of events, the biological daughter ended up being sent to the palace as the current Emperor's legitimate wife. The 3rd ML doesn't have feelings for the Empress, but he does have a lot of guilt towards her that she sometimes manipulates.

The 3rd ML loves FL, but hates her ruthlessness and profit-driven mindset. At some point, FL's childhood sweetheart fiancé makes an appearance and she makes a fuss to leave with him, angering the 3rd ML. For reasons I'm unclear about because I read all this with google translate, either he or the Empress or both of them had the subordinates groom her to be a showgirl to curry favor with the Crown Prince who was set to visit the province.

As expected, the Crown Prince was taken with the young and stunning beautiful FL and brought her back when he went home. He favored her exclusively and wanted to ennoble her, but his Crown Princess was jealous and tactfully reported his excessive favor to her father in law, the Emperor. The Emperor (our ML... blegh) was dissatisfied with his son's perceived muddleheadedness and wanted to execute FL outright but ended up just exiling her into nunhood instead.

The Crown Prince (2nd ML but I'll call him CP cos tht's shorter.... good lord I hate writing but I JUST CAN'T STOP YAPPING) tried his best to keep FL or at relieve her discomfort but failed because of pressure from all sides. While she was being sent away, FL took the opportunity to sweet-talk one of the more important-seeming guards overseeing her transfer to get him to elope with her (cough protect her. She's very pragmatic, willing to use her body in exchange for material possessions and protection). She didn't trust him entirely, but he was her best shot at not spending the rest of her life in a dilapidated nunnery.

Blah blah timeSKIP TIME!!! During the scheduled time to elope, something went wrong and FL was unable to meet with the guard she made an appointment with, so she ended up wandering into the private springs of the Emperor nearby. The Emperor thought she was just some beautiful maid that took the opportunity to offer herself so he didn't think twice and slept with her. He found her looks and personality very stimulating and charming so he kept favoring her over and over again during his stay at the spring, but noticed the fact that she was not a virg*n and was displeased with that. FL came to know that he was the Emperor through some subtle clues around them but continued to play dumb in hopes that he would soon leave and never pursue the issue.

He didn't plan on bringing her back to the harem or ennobling her because her identity was unclean and not glorious but half-heartedly promised he would come see her when he came to visit the springs again. She knew he was just sweet-talking her but didn't expose it. During the time together, the CP came to the visit his father and noticed that he had a new woman with him. He didn't know who she was and FL was scared to death because the realization of what she had done finally dawned on her. She decided to leave a veiled message for him in the woods as a backup plan in case all of this comes to light, hoping to guilt-trip him by making him think that his father forced her into this and that she begged for his help but he never came (this sh*t worked btw... much later on it did come in handy. thank god the CP isn't a pos)

Another man also came to visit, the 3rd ML. MC was shocked to learn that all three men she had slept with were related to each other in some way and felt that her situation had become even more precarious. When the Emperor was getting ready to return, the imperial guards finally spotted FL and she met 3rd ML face to face again. Something happened and the Emperor finally realized that the little maid he had been favoring these past few weeks was the same little village girl that his son brought back from his work trip (embarrassed AND infuriated him) 3rd ML was torn between saving her and obeying his nominal sister, but in the end, FL was able to escape with her life by pledging herself to the ML (who finally came to the terms that he really frickin' liked this girl who was his own daughter's age... ew).

The subsequent arc was her formal entry into the palace and the ML accepting that he had genuine feelings for her. Before her, he only did his husband-and-wife duties with his consorts to produce heirs. After 2 children, the visits to the harem failed to produce anymore heirs so he stopped bothering because he didn't like it anyway (yeah yeah whatever poor Mr Rich and Powerful Man who HAS to Have s*x with Beautiful Women in a Feudal Patriarchy).

There was a scene where he and his son confronted each other because his son felt that he was hypocritical and stole his beloved, but ML manage to defuse the situation by acting out a good play of a guilty father who would accept the rebellion of his son if he really insister on it after thinking it through. In reality, if the CP actually struck him with his blade fr, ML would've killed his son. The CP was successfully guilt-tripped and agreed to smooth things over because he was afraid that his actions would publicized and ruin the FL's reputation and future.

ML loved FL more and more and began to regret his earlier hard-heartedness towards her. He punished his daughter when she disrespected FL but also a heart to heart with her to prevent her from festering a grudge against FL. He admitted that he really did love FL more than anyone else, but he also hoped his son and daughter would live well.

Later on, FL became pregnant with twins and gave ML a good excuse to promote her rank to highest amongst the consorts, second only to the Empress. After she gave birth, she had a period of marital bliss with the ML until an incident happened. I don't know if this was a misunderstanding, but FL heard the ML and Dowager Empress discuss plans for the future. He was worried for her and the children's future after he passed and was afraid the CP would seize her by force. He said something along the lines of having her accompany him in death in the event of him passing and happened to be caught by her. Enraged and feeling betrayed, FL rushed to the nursery and almost slashed her children's throats and then her own in a desperate attempt to hurt the ML in the only way she had the power to.

FL and ML had a falling out and she eventually reunited with her childhood sweetheart who became some monk. They made plans to run away together but FL was caught and sent back to the ML. ML wanted to kill the childhood sweetheart out of jealousy, but FL pleaded for his life and threatened to follow him to the underworld. ML was very hurt that she never loved him this seriously and wouldn't even consider their infant children but acquiesced in the end.

Blah blah blah.... more drama. FL fell seriously ill from being stimulated and lost her memories up to the point when her mother was still alive. She kept clamoring for her mother and childhood sweetheart fiancé, hurting ML's heart. He endured and tried to help her get through this period safely, but she was very cold to him.

Outside the palace, a storm is brewing because the 3rd ML had been forced to a corner by the ML and had no choice but to rebel to protect himself and his foster clan. ML had been eyeing their clan's navy for a while and had always planned to get rid of this hidden danger half-brother since the start of his reign. Around this time, he also met FL's father and brothers who survived the rough seas. Ok back to business: ML used the Empress as a hostage and managed to chase the 3rd ML down to fight him to the death. The Empress ended up dying anyway but the ML's goal was achieved in spite of this miscalculation.

In the original version of the novel, the 3rd ML and FL actually had a son that she gave birth to during the period when they had a falling out. He lied to her and told her that the baby died at birth, but secretly raised him in the clan with a proper clan name and personal characters. It's hinted that FL suspects that the child survived, but she also appears extremely disgusted by this child she never wanted and the person who forced her into all this. She never asked about the child from the beginning to the end. The only time she ever mentioned him was to insist that she was told it was a stillbirth and that she basically had no ties to him.

In that original version, ML used the child to force the 3rd ML to commit su*cide. He promised he would let the boy live, but said that he would have to change his clan name to FL's natal family's and live as an ordinary boy from their family. 3rd ML bitterly agreed, thinking that it's good for his son to have such an ending. The boy's father's background was shameful, and his mother hated him from the moment she knew about him. At least by becoming part of the FL's clan, he would finally have a connection with the woman that gave birth to him.

In the 'clean' version, this child does not exist, and everything else happens pretty much the same way but man it's so much less juicy : (

ML did some more groveling and finally got back into FL's good graces (sigh). He made her his new Empress, and in the extra chapters, we see him pressuring his eldest son to abdicate his position to make way for his beloved son with FL.

I'm ngl I lowkey hate that ML. If we sum things up, he's done his best for everyone in his life except maybe his first wife... and also his son (as a parent you should always give way to your child unless that mf betrays you first... I'm glad ML didn't but lmao he's a failure of a father for that one). He doesn't treat the concubines harshly even after discontinuing harem stuff and ensures that the children live a smooth sailing life, but he's also SECOND HAND GOODS with BAGGAGE😊 Normally, this is a HELL NO for me, but considering the fact that FL doesn't seem to love him all that much and has had two others before him, I will turn a blind eye. I am the number one hater of nuance and realism 👁️👄👁️ No period-accurate depictions of love for me! In my head, the original version is the only version :D I don't want FL's first childbirth to be for an unworthy old geezer like him.

AS THE BIOLOGICAL MOTHER OF ALL FLs, no man is good enough for the pieces of flesh that fell from my belly. The clean ones are not worldly, and the experienced ones have traces of other people on them. After a good wash, my daughters are chunks of gold that will gleam in the sun even after being submerged in horse shit, but my sons-in-law are strips of linen that will always carry a stench or stain once splashed with a bit of piss.