[Classical Elegance + Household Intrigue and Making Money + Reborn, Crushing Scumbags and Face-Slapping + An Aloof Powerful Official’s Devoted Married Life]
In the Great Wei dynasty, daughters of the five great surnames and seven eminent clans were coveted brides among the aristocratic families.
Cui Jixue was fortunate enough to be born a daughter of the Cui clan. She married into the well-matched Xie Duke’s Mansion and became the virtuous wife of its young lord, Xie Sh Miao.
In the third year of their marriage, Xie Sh Miao left the capital on official business. Five years passed without a word from him. She honored her parents-in-law, managed the household, and kept the Duke’s Mansion’s businesses running smoothly.
Then Xie Sh Miao returned to the capital with an unknown actor in tow and divorced her, casting her aside. Cui Jixue was consumed by hatred and flew into a rage on the spot, securing a divorce by mutual consent.
Back at her family home, her stepmother and stepsister mocked and despised her at every turn. She had worked so hard to raise her daughter, yet her stepmother secretly sold the girl to a kidnapper.
After drowning, she was reborn. Now she would plan every step and repay everyone who had ever bullied her, many times over!
Xie Sh Miao favored his concubine and mistreated his wife? Then she would expose the truth: his “true love,” the actor Si Siyan, was filthier than a brothel girl.
Her stepsister envied her for winning a handsome dowry even after divorcing into the Xie family? Then she would send that disgraced girl to the Xie family as a concubine, where she could fight Si Siyan tooth and nail.
Her stepmother was greedy? Then Cui Jixue would open shops and do business, amassing wealth from across the land until jealousy drove her stepmother mad.
Then one day, Cui Jixue learned the truth about her birth.
Her mother was the Emperor’s own elder sister: Princess Yuyang, who had once dominated the political stage before failing in her bid for power against the Emperor.
The court was now in turmoil, and her mother asked her to choose a side.
After a lifetime of hardship, Cui Jixue would choose only those who truly loved her: her grandmother, her adoptive father, her two children, and Yang Shilian, the husband who came into her life halfway through and cherished her with all his heart.
When the turmoil ended, Cui Jixue commanded the wealth of the world, helped the young emperor ascend the throne, and became Great Wei’s most legendary female merchant.
