Synopsis
[A Cozy, Playful Sweet Romance About a Household] [The Making of a Bickering Imperial Couple]
◆ A mischievous sweet girl who goes from pretending to meaning it vs. an ascetic scholar who falls for her while overthinking everything
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Qin Yunchu, a noble young lady from a family of generals, is determined to become Dayan's greatest woman general.
But after seeing her eldest sister return victorious, covered in wounds, she immediately changes her mind.
Poet and literary giant, fabulously wealthy merchant...
Qin Yunchu thinks it over and realizes that whatever she does, her six older sisters will always outshine her. What a hassle.
So Qin Yunchu decides to become the most exalted woman in Dayan: the Empress Dowager!
But becoming the Empress Dowager isn't easy. She has to work her way up from Crown Princess.
Fighting and scheming are no easier than marching to war or placing first in the imperial exams.
"I like the Crown Prince. I want to be his Crown Princess!"
At first, her sisters assume their little sister is joking.
Their little sister is the one who can push the Crown Prince into a river to cool off,
and who dares to strike back and cause a ruckus in the palace when a powerful person bullies her.
If she really becomes Crown Princess, the civil and military officials will all be in danger.
Her sisters never expected Qin Yunchu to truly rein in her nature.
To become Crown Princess, she starts learning music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, as well as poetry and literature.
She sets the trends in the capital, while constantly arranging chance encounters with the Crown Prince.
The process is just a little bumpy...
Qin Yunchu tries to scheme her way into stealing the Crown Prince's first kiss, but kisses the wrong person instead.
Ji Xu demands that she take responsibility, only for the Crown Prince to propose to Qin Yunchu in front of everyone.
"I have long been enamored of the Qin family's Seventh Daughter, and wish to take her as my lawful wife."
Qin Yunchu gets her wish and becomes Crown Princess, settling down to await her wedding.
But she also gains a sworn enemy in Ji Xu, who writes denunciations of her every day.
Whenever she's tired of acting like a proper lady, Qin Yunchu picks a fight with Ji Xu.
It eases her frustration, and besides... she prefers the person she used to be.
*
Something unexpected happens the year Qin Yunchu is to be married.
She has an incredibly long dream.
In the dream, after she marries the Crown Prince, the Emperor has a son of his own.
The court splits into two factions. The Crown Prince, worried his position as heir is insecure, goes around currying favor and making alliances, making the Emperor deeply suspicious. In a fit of anger, the Emperor strips him of his title.
The Crown Prince naturally refuses to accept this and raises an army in rebellion with the help of his wife's family.
Only then does Qin Yunchu understand that a Crown Prince has no such thing as love or infatuation.
What she thought was success comes at the cost of her entire family.
In her dream, the ground is drenched in red. Qin Yunchu jolts awake.
She will never let that nightmare come true.
Her first step is to find a way to break off the engagement.
After waking, Qin Yunchu sees many things clearly.
The families of the imperial clan's sons who entered the palace with her all suffered misfortune. It must have been Ji Sheng's doing, and Ji Xu's family was among them.
Ji Xu's mother takes her own life, his household falls into chaos, and Ji Xu disappears.
At first, no one knows where he has gone.
Later, he turns up in Qin Yunchu's bed...
This astonishing imperial scandal sets the whole capital ablaze.
Everyone thinks Qin Yunchu has gone mad.
Only Ji Xu believes her ridiculous claim that she'll take responsibility for him for a year.
"Ji Xu, marry me. I'll help you, and after a year, we'll be even."
After the wedding, they bicker and fight, turning the household upside down, but they make a surprisingly good team.
But as Ji Sheng marries a new wife and they live together in perfect harmony, enjoying a flourishing life, Ji Xu feels he has wronged Qin Yunchu and treats her better and better.
Over the course of that year, Qin Yunchu deals with the Ji family, then the Qin family.
She becomes the Qin daughter feared more than anyone else in the capital.
After that, everything unfolds just as it did in her dream.
The court is in turmoil. The Crown Prince is dead, and the Emperor's own son died young.
The Emperor's health can no longer hold out.
After all the twists and turns, the position of heir falls to Ji Xu.
Qin Yunchu never expected things to turn out this way.
But none of it matters anymore. She stopped wanting to be Crown Princess a long time ago.
*
Qin Yunchu burns her dream journal and writes a divorce agreement.
This marriage was always a temporary arrangement. They should have gone their separate ways long ago.
And yet, for some inexplicable reason, the usually carefree Qin Yunchu finds herself reluctant to part.
The day Ji Xu finds the divorce agreement is his birthday.
He has prepared fireworks across the city to enjoy with his wife.
And the wife who has everything going for her wants a divorce!
After twenty years trapped by the royal rules, Ji Xu finally loses his mind.
In the pouring rain, he uses his body to stop Qin Yunchu's carriage as it drives away.
He has to ask her: what, exactly, is she unhappy with?
At home or outside it, in bed or out of it, what isn't good enough?
Qin Yunchu: You're wonderful, but I want too much...
Ji Xu: Then I'll give it all to you. The realm and me, both are yours.
"There was no pretending that became real. I've loved you all along."
◆ Reader's Guide | ① A devoted first-love couple, with a grounded story overall;
② The male lead doesn't become emperor until near the end. The story mainly focuses on domestic life;
③ A little ensemble romance. All six of the Qin family's other daughters will have their own romantic storylines;
④ Set in the Dayan dynasty, with extensive fictional worldbuilding and inspiration from the Song dynasty.
◆ Please Note | Corrections and kind criticism are welcome. Unsolicited writing advice, malicious warnings, and claims of copying are not.
◆ Blurb | Original timestamp: 2026.04.16 | All characters are original and based on no real people. No stand-ins allowed.
Theme: Hard times reveal true feelings.
