Synopsis
[Coming soon: *Everyday Life at an Ancient Sanatorium [Food]*. Please add it to your collection!]
Jiang Zhiqiao transmigrates into the body of an orphan girl who was raised by her maternal grandparents' family.
Though her fiancé is terminally ill, she doesn't mind. Being a marquis's wife in name only sounds fine, as long as she has enough to live on for the rest of her life. She also prepares for every possibility, keeping a low profile and acting mysterious, with a plan to make money quietly.
At the palace banquet on the night before her wedding, the Emperor inexplicably grants her the title of county lady, and the Empress Dowager rewards her with a thousand taels of gold.
She hasn't done a thing, and fortune just fell into her lap?
Life in this ancient world isn't so bad after all.
She never expected to have anything to do with the all-powerful Prince Regent.
That is, until he hijacked her bridal sedan chair on her wedding day.
Jiang Zhiqiao had seen him cut down people without batting an eye, killing so many it was like mowing grass.
She spent every day in fear and trepidation. At last, one dark and windy night, she climbed over the wall to escape, only to run straight into him.
She glanced at the bloody head on the ground, and tears spilled uncontrollably down her cheeks.
“I'll never do it again…”
He didn't do anything to her. After that, he simply kept her under his watchful eye, keeping tabs on her every moment…
The Prince Regent was graceful and striking, slim in his clothes and sporting washboard abs without them, but he was aloof and eccentric. He provided her with the very best food and clothing and granted her every wish, but refused to sleep with her. He even asked if she wanted the new top scholar, the one even the Grand Princess couldn't have.
Jiang Zhiqiao: “Aren't I your princess consort?”
Chu Jingrong: “You don't have to be.”
Jiang Zhiqiao: “???”
She racked her brains, but could never figure out what he was up to.
Chu Jingrong had never forgotten the coldest winter of his life, years ago, when he had been starving to death and a little girl had brought him a steaming bowl of noodles.
Now he had distinguished himself in battle, made a name across the land, and become the Prince Regent supporting the new Emperor.
When he learned that his benefactor was having a hard time, he naturally wanted to repay her kindness.
He would personally change her fate and ensure that she lived in wealth and splendor for the rest of her life.
He used the Emperor to give her status, the Empress Dowager to give her wealth, and sent eligible men to her side.
Later, he changed his mind about that last part.
[Reader's guide]
1. Entirely fictional setting, with plenty of original worldbuilding.
2. One-on-one pairing, both virgins, happy ending.
[Coming soon: *Everyday Life at an Ancient Sanatorium [Food]* blurb]
Sheng Xuan transmigrates into the body of the most hated person at the entire Taiping Sanatorium: lazy, lovestruck, and always trying to marry up.
A few days ago, the original owner had stolen the silver her mother had painstakingly saved while working as a cook and handed it all over to some pretty boy. The shock had made her mother seriously ill, and now no one at the sanatorium could cook.
Sheng Xuan sighed, went into the kitchen, rolled up her sleeves, and steamed a batch of fragrant buns. Then she made a pot of pork and cabbage stew with glass noodles.
Everyone at the sanatorium was stunned, but still licked the pot clean.
From then on, mealtimes became everyone's favorite part of the day.
Noodles with gravy, braised pork rice, egg fried rice, pickled fish, knife-cut noodles, pork ribs stewed with green beans, red-braised pork with potatoes, Kung Pao chicken, sweet-and-sour pork, boiled fish, twice-cooked pork, stir-fried pork, fish-fragrant shredded pork, big-plate chicken, roasted chicken wings, blanched shrimp, stir-fried liver, steamed sea bass…
Sheng Xuan: “Everyone at this sanatorium recovered ages ago. Why are they still here?”
While cooking, Sheng Xuan set up a snack stall near the sanatorium. Business boomed, her life got better and better, her purse grew fatter, and her reputation improved too.
The pretty boy came back asking for money?
Sheng Xuan brandished a kitchen knife at his powdery face. In the end, she not only got her money back, but made him pay compensation too.
More and more people came to the sanatorium to recuperate, and their status grew ever more distinguished.
The once-ignored sanatorium became so popular that everyone wanted to pay a fortune for even a single day's stay.
Before long, Sheng Xuan became the most famous cook in the capital, and the Emperor bestowed on her the title of “First-Rank Imperial Chef.”
One day, while Sheng Xuan was cooking in the back kitchen, a young man in a top scholar's robe ran in, brimming with excitement. “A-Xuan, you said that if I passed the imperial examinations and became the top scholar, you'd marry me!”
Sheng Xuan: “Huh? I was joking! Why did you take me seriously?”
She looked at the spirited young man before her. He was handsome, with a tall, straight build. Remembering how he'd once collapsed at the sanatorium's entrance, she couldn't help but sigh.
Fate and timing, I suppose. You really shouldn't underestimate a poor young man.
On his way to the capital to sit the examinations, Jiang Shaoqing was robbed by bandits, losing all his money and suffering severe injuries.
When he reached the capital, he was penniless and collapsed outside the sanatorium.
He would never forget that day: a woman who seemed to emerge from the light saved him and fed him medicine and food.
She was so outstanding that so many people coveted her.
Jiang Shaoqing secretly swore that he would pass the examinations and climb to the top.
Later, every official at court knew that apart from his duties, their Chancellor thought of no one but his wife.
Most infuriating of all, the lunch Jiang the Chancellor brought from home every day smelled so good it made everyone drool.
One night, after they had made love, Jiang Shaoqing held the sleeping woman in his arms and spoke softly. “A-Xuan, at last, I'm just barely worthy of you.”
Theme: Love life. Happiness is created with your own hands.
