[Farming + infrastructure building + exile + substitute marriage + love after marriage]
Wu Zhi transmigrates into the body of a concubine-born daughter sent to marry in someone else’s place. The very day after her wedding, her husband’s family is seized and their household confiscated, and they are escorted to the bitterly cold northwest.
Chen Huaiqing, the sickly heir, has been confined to his bed for years. He thought he was as good as dead, but then this substitute bride arrives, with nothing on her mind except clearing land and growing crops.
They hit it off and decide to make a life together: once he’s restored his health through farm work and she’s amassed a thousand mu of fertile land, they’ll divorce at once and go their separate ways.
By day, they clear wild hills, build irrigation channels, and put up earthen houses. In private, they keep their accounts separate and are nothing more than partners in name.
But as the days pass, Chen Huaiqing’s health is completely restored by farm work, and he becomes more capable at it than anyone. Then, little by little, he starts changing his mind.
“Harvest season is so busy, and we can’t manage the heavy work without a man around. Can we put off the divorce for now?”
“Zhi Zhi, the thousand mu of good farmland are all in your name. Your husband is penniless, so I refuse to accept a return.”
“My lady, the estate is so big, yet it’s still lonely. How about having a baby to help us turn the soil?”
