A Concubine-Born Daughter's Marriage Scheme: The General's Reclusive Wife

Shen Qingci is the heir to a reclusive master, well-versed in an array of disciplines, but her family treats her as expendable and sends her to take the place of her eloping legitimate elder sister as the bride of General Gu Huaijin, the notorious "Living Yama." Inside the general's manor, vicious servants, favored concubines bullying the wife, and conflicts between legitimate and illegitimate heirs are all tangled together. Outside, political factionalism and turmoil on the borders simmer beneath the surface. Everyone is waiting to see how this "country girl" will meet a miserable end. But Shen Qingci uses the skills passed down by her reclusive master, her talent for reading people, her strategic mind, and her survival instincts to fight back, starting with a bowl of contraceptive soup. She disciplines cruel servants, takes on the concubines, investigates old cases, and wins people's loyalty, turning the crumbling general's manor into an impregnable fortress. As she and Gu Huaijin move from testing one another to fighting side by side, she gradually uncovers the truth behind her family's forced marriage and her parents' early deaths, and becomes entangled in a conspiracy that threatens the fate of the dynasty. In the end, she not only wins her husband's wholehearted love and respect, but also uses her far-sighted vision and political skill to carve out a breach in a court dominated by men, making a stunning transformation from a pawn sent to marry in someone else's place to the pillar holding the realm steady.