A Dream of Jingling

[Household Intrigue]+ [Political Scheming]+ [Revenge]+ [Not a Wish-Fulfillment Story]

Fifteen years ago, her birth mother died, and her scoundrel of a father passed the imperial examinations and ingratiated himself with the powerful. He moved the whole family to the capital, while she, a newborn, and the elderly couple who had accompanied her mother's dowry were banished to the old family home in Lin'an. From then on, no one cared whether they lived or died.

Fifteen years later, people from the capital came in a hurry to bring her back. What were they really after?

A splendid dream in Jingling...

Outline:

Fifteen years ago, an infant was brought to Lin'an. She lived in secret in the Gong household for ten years under the name Gong Youning. Then, without warning, her family in the distant capital came to take her back. To avenge her birth mother, she returned to the capital. With the care of Madam Cui, an old friend of her adoptive mother's, she made friends and allies, met many members of noble families, found her maternal uncle, took her revenge, and met the man she loved. Along the way, she also uncovered the corruption within the Cui household, learned how difficult life was for Madam Cui, witnessed the court's political struggles, the noble families lying in wait, and the rise of common-born families, and discovered the true identity of her adoptive mother...