Are All Female Martial Lords Like You?

[Slippery as an eel · shameless · strong enough to lift a cauldron · short little bean]

[Gradually led astray · aloof beauty · obsessive about order · scheming, loyal dog]

As the legitimate daughter of Duke Rui's household, Lin Xiaxin excelled in family background and talent alike. She was one of the most sought-after young ladies in the capital, with more suitors than fish swimming across a river.

In secret, though, she was a wooden·strong enough to lift a cauldron·slippery as an eel·shameless·person.

Because she had been frail as a child, her father and brothers sent her up the mountain to learn martial arts.

But not long after she came down from the mountain, her father and brothers died under mysterious circumstances. Then she trusted the wrong man and ended up abandoned in the wilderness, her body exposed to the elements.

The good news: she had come back to life, five years in the past.

The bad news: things had gone wrong from the start, and she owed someone a huge debt of gratitude.

Not long ago, her heartless fiancé had killed her without mercy.

As her soul wandered, with nowhere to go,

Bai Xingchi, a young general who was the son of a disgraced official and had likewise seen his entire family wiped out and been cast into the dust, spent the last ounce of silver he had to gather her bones and give her a dignified send-off.

Though the little likeness he placed in her cheap coffin was made from mud by the penniless young general.

Lin Xiaxin: Fine, I guess.

Since she'd come back, there was no way she could do nothing.

So she had no choice but to follow in Mulan's footsteps and fight for her future.

After all, the Bai army had not yet been destroyed, the Duke Who Guards the Nation had not yet been framed, and Bai Xingchi was still the young general who had made a name for himself in one battle and held Youzhou, keeping the enemy from daring to cross the line for years: "His white horse gleams beneath a silver saddle, he flashes past like a shooting star!"

Thus began the magnificent life of the female martial marquis Xia Xing.

And this is how later generations recorded her legend:

They say she was the legitimate daughter of the prime minister, born to wealth and honor. Frail as a child, she was sent up the mountain to cultivate, where she mastered martial arts despite being a young woman.

After coming down from the mountain and joining the army, she started out as a lowly clerk.

At Blood Maple Mountain, she took command in a crisis and turned the tide. In just half a year, she was promoted three ranks, rising from a new recruit to a brigade commander.

From then on, she rooted out traitors, suppressed bandits, and saved countless people from hardship.

The emperor was delighted and issued three decrees praising her extraordinary talent.

After repeated honors, she was eventually bestowed the rank of First-Rank Martial Marquis, a woman general who became the envy of all.

Even the young general, famous from an early age and coolly self-possessed, came to see her day after day, bringing her beautiful hairpins and fine jade, hoping to arrive with an eight-bearer wedding palanquin and ask for her hand.

Didn't he say he hated her nest-like hair, her disheveled appearance, and her lack of decorum?

Hah, what a tsundere.

And if you ask what the successful Martial Marquis herself thinks of it all?

Lin Xiaxin says: I have no idea! At first, I just wanted to repay a debt of gratitude!

#An eye for an eye, when the time is right.

#Back then, you shaped my golden image from mud.

#In this life, I'll wield a sword to settle your old grudge.

#Who says women are inferior to men? I'll prove just how wrong they are!

Coming next: "I Woke Up in an Abandoned Male-Oriented Novel, But the Male Lead Is Dead"

Tian Linling died from overwork, then woke up in a long-abandoned, over-the-top male-oriented novel as the wicked eldest daughter of Lingxiao Sect, a famous cultivation sect.

The original author had been cursed by readers for all kinds of problems: nonsensical plot logic, abandoned plot threads, and a male lead who was far too spineless. In the end, the novel was left unfinished.

The System said that unless she finished the novel and gave the readers a satisfying ending, she would be struck by five thunderbolts from the heavens.

Good heavens, she had never read a male-oriented novel in her life!

The only thing she knew about the genre was that the male lead was supposed to turn the tables, humiliate his enemies, build a harem, and finally ascend to immortality on the spot.

Well, no time like the present.

After a lot of effort, she finally found the male lead, Yu Di, in some remote backwater at the foot of the mountain and brought him back to the sect.

Oh, and on the way, she also picked up a poor little ghost who was nearly starving to death.

Next, all she had to do was create opportunities for the male lead to turn the tables, humiliate his enemies, and ascend!

Tian Linling figured that since he was the male lead, he must simply lack opportunities to show off. Given the chance, he was sure to impress everyone, which would make the readers happy!

So she pulled strings and made an exception, letting the new male lead take part in the sect's grand competition.

Tian Linling: Go! The championship is yours!

The result: the male lead was beaten so badly he couldn't get out of bed for a month, while the little ghost she'd picked up stole the show.

Tian Linling learned her lesson and decided the male lead must be lacking a stroke of good fortune. Once he got one, he would surely obtain a heavenly treasure and advance three cultivation stages at once.

So she managed to get a jade token and made an exception, letting the newly recovered male lead enter a secret realm to seek his fortune.

Tian Linling: Go! The white-bearded old man is waiting for you!

The result: the male lead was swallowed whole by a crimson flame snake. Thankfully, the little ghost she'd picked up reacted quickly and cut him out of the snake's round belly.

Tian Linling scratched her head. Weren't other people's male leads supposed to be invincible, beating opponents above their level?

What genre is it when a male-oriented novel's male lead is weak as a chicken? Asking for a friend. It's urgent.

She decided she must be doing it wrong.

So she took the male lead down the mountain to hunt demons, figuring that if he were on the verge of death, he might awaken his potential and ascend on the spot.

Tian Linling: Go!

The result: the male lead died.

Tian Linling: What happens if the male lead dies?

System: You'll be struck by five thunderbolts from the heavens.

Tian Linling felt the sky falling. Goodbye, Mom, I'm setting sail tonight...

Suddenly, someone held a round little thing out to her.

Oh, it was her favorite winter jujube.

The little ghost she picked up: What's wrong?

Tian Linling, gazing wistfully at a forty-five-degree angle: Yu Di died, so I'm going to die too. My Cosmos Bag is under the pillow. You can have it. Remember to take it.

The little ghost she picked up: Actually... my name in the mortal world used to be Yu Di too.

Tian Linling: ?

Theme: Women can hold up half the sky