The tyrant Xie Qingtan has been reborn. He thought he'd get another chance at life, but when he opened his eyes, he found himself a lame, sickly, illegitimate son, so weak that even planning his own death took careful calculation.
Just as he was about to hang himself, a rough-spoken farm girl grabbed him around the waist and pulled him down.
"Your father married you off to me. From now on, whether you live or die is up to me."
After they married, she doubled down, setting a basin of pork intestines in front of him. "Wash these. The living need something to do."
Xie Qingtan had once been a great martial emperor, commanding armies and conquering the realm. Now he squatted beneath the veranda scrubbing pork intestines, or she'd make him share a stall with the gray donkey.
...This life was impossible!
But then she said, "Xie Tan, I'll take care of you for the rest of your life. Not a life spent eating without working, and not a life spent as a beast of burden. A life in which I'll give you everything you were denied."
Later.
The "Lu Zhishen" braised-food shop became famous across the land, and Xie Qingtan reclaimed the throne and took command of the realm.
He cast aside his finery and asked only to return home.
But the woman who had once pinned him in the wedding quilts and kissed him without restraint said, "My husband's name is Xie Tan."
"Who is Xie Qingtan? Never heard of him."
*
Later still, a Madam You came to the imperial palace.
She was neither the emperor's wife nor his concubine. She was no empress or consort. She was simply herself.
When people mocked her for having no title or status, Xie Qingtan flew into a rage. "I'm the one without a title! Me!"
Theme: Don't chase guests in the clouds. Plant springtime here in the human world.
