[Imperial examinations + woman disguised as a man + flirtatious push and pull + your nemesis is your wife]
A defiant, brilliant woman vs. a cool and reserved scion of an aristocratic family
Tan Zhixing is transmigrated into the body of a fake peasant boy. With her greedy uncle eyeing the family fortune, she tears up the farming-life script and plunges into the cutthroat imperial examination race, disguised as a man.
Farming can't compare to taking the imperial exams! From the county exams to the provincial exams to the metropolitan exams, she blazes through them all. While others burn the midnight oil until they go bald, she breezes through and wins first place in all three stages. She's practically cheating!
The court's political waters begin to roil, and Pei Rang, born into one of the most powerful noble families, takes an instant interest in this brilliant newcomer from a humble background.
The big shot keeps making offers, ostensibly to mentor a promising young talent, but secretly lays bait at every turn to test her, leaving "Young Master Tan" caught between a rock and a hard place.
Tan Zhixing keeps her secret identity under wraps while accepting the game Pei Rang has set up, matching wits with him as they circle one another.
They navigate court intrigue, investigate wrongful convictions, and provide disaster relief and security for the people, advancing together and countering each other's moves in an intense game of cat and mouse.
*
At a drinking party, a minor official gets drunk and makes lewd remarks about Tan Lang, turning him into the subject of a lascivious verse.
The heir apparent, Pei, hears him out, a faint smile on his lips and a bone-chilling coldness in his eyes.
My Tan Lang is beautiful. Did you know that?
If you did, you're as good as dead!
That night, the minor official stumbles into the water while drunk.
