The Heroine Is Up on the Roof Laying Tiles

[Two powerful female leads who grow stronger + no romance + revenge + satisfying read + fictional Tang dynasty]

To protect her family's business, Wang Guiyi takes in the destitute Li Qingzhao as her live-in husband.

She spends every last coin supporting his studies and his journey to the exams. But he is a wolf in sheep's clothing: he pretends to be tender to coax her into giving everything, while secretly plotting to get rid of her and marry a noblewoman once he passes the provincial exam as the top candidate.

He and Wei Shuyan's father set a trap, planning to murder her under the cover of a raid by river bandits.

But their false scheme draws real bandits. In the chaos, Wang Guiyi and the Wei family's young lady both disappear.

Years later, a new emperor ascends the throne, and the court is swept by upheaval.

The former live-in husband Li Qing changes his identity to Xue Shen and rises through the ranks at court;

while Wang Guiyi and Wei Shuyan become influential confidantes of the Empress Dowager.

Xue Shen seizes his chance for revenge, and a single letter of accusation sends Wang Guiyi to death row.

On the day of her execution, the one who holds the power of life and death and personally oversees the proceedings is Wei Shuyan, the sister who weathered every hardship alongside her.

As the executioner's blades draw near, Wang Guiyi laughs coldly and calls out:

You want to steal my achievements and condemn me to death? Dream on! I will never confess to a crime I did not commit!