Transmigrate as a Spendthrift Scholar: I Served as an Honest Official, Yet Was Betrayed

[Transmigration x single heroine] Shen Wen, a modern history enthusiast, transmigrates into the Great Sheng dynasty as Shen Zhaowen, a down-and-out scholar ruined by drink who has let down his family and his childhood sweetheart. Carrying the original owner’s memories and guilt, he turns over a new leaf and sets out on the path of the imperial examinations, relying on his knowledge and perseverance to rise from humble beginnings in the countryside and place second in the palace examinations. Once he enters officialdom, he holds fast to his principles and serves with integrity, staying true to himself amid the treacherous currents of court politics as he punishes corrupt officials and improves the lives of the people. But in the end, he cannot make amends for the original owner’s wrongs. Facing Su Heng, who waited for him devotedly only to have her heart broken, he is consumed by guilt but cannot bring himself to ask her to stay. They go from childhood sweethearts who stand by each other to drifting ever farther apart. Though their love runs deep, it ends in regret. His career soars, but he spends his life alone, with only an unfulfilled dream of his childhood sweetheart left behind.