In her previous life, Shen Mingshu trusted the gentle scholar Su Jingyuan. She married him in a lavish wedding, endured ten years as a patient, virtuous wife, and was repaid with a bowl of infertility medicine that she was forced to take year after year.
The person in Su Jingyuan's heart had never been her, but her innocent, pure half-sister, Shen Mingyue. To torment her, Su Jingyuan filled his household with concubines who looked like Mingyue, and the children around his knees stabbed at Shen Mingshu's heart day after day. To clear his path to power, he conspired with a branch of the marquis's family to frame the Shen family for treason. The entire household of the Marquis of Zhenbei was condemned to death: her father and brothers died in battle, her mother hanged herself, and the half-sister who had faithfully protected her was dragged down with them and died young. Shen Mingshu was imprisoned in a ruined house and died alone and broken in a mass grave. Only on her deathbed did she see the poison hidden beneath the scoundrel's honeyed words.
Reborn, she returns to the start of her betrothal at fifteen. The girl in the mirror is still beautiful, and her family is all alive. The warmth vanishes from her eyes, leaving only a bone-deep hatred. When she encounters Su Jingyuan on the mountain path to Qingyun Temple, she deliberately takes another route, severing the bond formed at their first meeting. She pretends to humor him while secretly uncovering his schemes with the branch family. She protects her half-sister, who trusts her completely, carefully nurses her frail health, and arranges a secure, happy marriage for her.
Xie Xuancheng, the regent who holds power over the court and has never married, was the only person in her previous life to speak up for the Shen family. Now he becomes her sole ally. She plans each step, tears up her betrothal contract with Su Jingyuan, and takes the initiative to offer the regent the terms of an alliance, entering the game as a player.
In this life, she will not pine for false affection or use children to bind anyone's heart. With leverage in hand and the regent at her back, she will protect her loved ones and ensure that those who betrayed and harmed her never rise again.
Sounds good! Very well written!