Gu Shiwei opened her eyes and found herself in the body of a vicious, ruthless ancient peasant widow, saddled with three stepchildren crying to be fed.
They said she was freakishly strong. At home, she cursed her parents-in-law and beat her older brother and sister-in-law, and even traded her stepdaughter for food for her sons. Outside, she beat villagers, bandits, and refugees to a pulp.
Looking at the war-torn world around her, where people had no place to call home, Gu Shiwei decided to carry on the original owner’s legacy of being “ruthless.”
But before she could show what she was made of, some influential man caught her and put her to work as a cook in his kitchen.
To stop having to scrape together meals every day, Gu Shiwei hid her sharp edges and lived quietly in the nobleman’s kitchen, raising the three children.
But as she kept lying low, she realized the nobleman was looking at her strangely. Terrified, she turned and ran.
Who knew the nobleman would get ahead of her, corner her against a wall, and say with an amused smile, “Woman, you’ve been hiding your talents pretty well. You can write, keep accounts, treat the sick, and grow a fine crop. Tell me, young lady, what else can you do?”
When Gu Shiwei saw that her little secrets had been exposed, she gave him a silly grin and played dumb. “My lord, you’ve got it all wrong. Those are just little tricks I use to make a living.”
Unfortunately, the young lord didn’t believe her at all. He even specially appointed her to an official position overseeing farming and cultivation.
Though Gu Shiwei had been shoved into the role, she lived up to everyone’s expectations. In just three years, she used what she had learned in her previous life to teach the people to farm scientifically. They started with nothing, then began growing crops, and soon harvests were soaring and the national treasury was full. Everyone was delighted.
One day, the young lord found Gu Shiwei hard at work. “Weiwei, stop farming. Hurry back to the capital with me and marry me.”
Gu Shiwei said, “My lord, I’m a widow. It wouldn’t be proper for me to marry you.”
