Ink-Stained Makeup

Cross-dressing as a man × the imperial civil service examinations and court politics × single-mindedly building a career × powerful minister × feel-good female-led story × no romance in the main story In an era when women had no status, her parents were killed by the powerful, her uncles seized the family estate, and her fiancé broke off their engagement. She fell from being a wealthy young lady to having no roof over her head. To clear her father's name, she hardened her heart, cast aside her women's finery, and sat for the imperial examinations. She endured hardship and planned every step, rising from a top graduate from a humble family to the Crown Prince's tutor. With an iron hand, she crushed bandits and purged corrupt officials. With brilliance as cold as ice and snow, she resolved a food crisis among the people. In the imperial court, she calmly asked for an imperial decree: “Women, too, should be allowed to establish their own households.” But she was smeared with slander and demoted once more. Afterward, no one knew whether that sentence of his was true or false. Later, as the court was thrown into turmoil, she risked her life to quell a rebellion and finally won the emperor's respect. A law sealed away for a thousand years was struck from the books, allowing daughters to establish households of their own. [Princess arc] Romance Two female leads × healing × a woman who marries a princess × one-on-one romance She pursued her for years, only to learn that she had set fire to the estate and that her fate was unknown. For ten years in the princess's residence, she was willing to defy all convention and turn back time, bringing her back to the moment before her death. She was willing to ruin her own reputation, using a fake pregnancy to resolve the crisis of her identity being exposed. On their wedding day, she resorted to shameful means against her. Even with the bright moon high overhead, all she wanted was to keep her for herself!