(Reborn and repentant, fiercely raising children, punishing scoundrels and making them eat their words, with the whole family begging for forgiveness. See how a wicked mother turns the tables and plays a winning hand from a losing one!)
On a snowy night, frozen to death outside the general's manor, Shen Yuniang looked back on her life:
She had played favorites and been cruel, driven her eldest daughter-in-law to her death, raised a top scholar only for him to feed her dog food, earned the undying hatred of her eldest son, a general, watched her daughter fall into a living hell, and seen her youngest son lose a hand and beg for a living. She died with regrets.
When she opened her eyes again, she was thirty years old, back at the tragic beginning: her eldest daughter-in-law was gravely ill, her children were estranged, and a poisonous neighbor was stirring up trouble.
This time, she was completely clearheaded!
She would save her eldest daughter-in-law, protect the unborn child, and cut off the roots of the disasters to come;
punish her top-scholar son, stop taking his support for granted, and make him see people's true nature;
encourage her youngest son and bring out his astonishing talent for craftsmanship, which would one day win renown in the royal family;
protect her daughter, personally put an end to her ill-fated romance, and pave the way for a brilliant future;
as for her eldest son, the battle-hardened general who returned with hatred etched into his bones...
She silently mended his armor and, when he was gravely wounded and near death, risked her life to get him medicine.
Later, her top-scholar son knelt outside the palace gates to petition for her to receive an official title;
her eldest son, the general, razed his enemy's manor to the ground just so he could bring her home and care for her;
the royal family's master artisan was her youngest son;
and her daughter, married to the man of her dreams, smiled like a flower.
Standing beneath the imperial plaque honoring her as a “First-Rank Virtuous Mother,” Shen Yuniang gazed at her accomplished, devoted children and smiled faintly. In this life, I raised my children and punished the scoundrels. I'm the ultimate winner.