After I Transmigrate into a Book as the Empress, He Insists on Winning Me Over

Two-faced power-wielding minister vs. sunny younger puppy vs. gentle older man → sensitive, optimistic empress (with a hidden, gloomy yandere streak)

Xiang Yang is a frail orphan. One day, she dies abruptly and bitterly when her heart condition flares up...

When she opens her eyes again, her heartbeat is steady, her complexion rosy, and she is full of energy. She is nothing like the sickly girl she was before.

She has transmigrated into a book, becoming Mu Yueqing, the heroine of a romance-obsessed empress novel. The male lead uses her, breaks her heart, and drives her to a tragic suicide!

She is overjoyed. She has transmigrated into a book and been given a second life, and she's an empress to boot! She is no longer a frail, helpless orphan.

She vows to stay away from the male lead and live the kind of satisfying life you'd expect from a wish-fulfillment novel!

But who could have guessed that the male lead would insist on pursuing her?

From their first encounter in the rain, he carefully schemes at every turn.

He engineers chance meetings, plays the victim to win her sympathy, saves the day, and casually shows off his good looks...

Wait, what? This isn't right...

She can't help grumbling at the air: Hey! System, System, are you there? If you are, show yourself!

There is no response.

Don't people who transmigrate into a book usually get a System?

Don't Systems in novels usually tell the transmigrator to pursue the male lead or something?

Why is it the male lead who's determined to pursue me here?!

The male lead Jiang Loubai's perspective:

Not enough. It's still not enough... Why is she always on guard around me? Why doesn't she trust me... Why doesn't she love me yet?

Is this so-called pursuit driven by ambition, or by self-interest?

And he's not the only one trying to pursue Mu Yueqing.

The young man kneels at the woman's feet, his beautiful puppy eyes fixed on her. "Your Majesty, please be nice to me~"

"Do you think any of them would beg so humbly for your affection, the way I do?" -- Zhou Anzhi

The man smiles at Jiang Loubai's provocation. "She trusts me. Does she trust you?"

"Your Majesty, I've always been here..." -- Jueyu

Mu Yueqing stands frozen. Jiang Loubai, who went to war while still young and has suffered countless wounds and shed countless drops of blood; the boy who endured endless humiliation as a child yet never bent, and always seemed cool and distant, his gaze aloof, is trembling, eyes red, looking utterly shattered. His gaze is full of hurt and grievance.

He fights to hold himself together, fists clenched and body rigid as he trembles. His handsome, spirited eyes are already blurred with tears, yet he stubbornly holds on, trying not to let them fall.

"Why have you never trusted me? Why are you always on guard around me...?" he asks in a pitiful, stubbornly tearful voice. His pale face is flushed, and at last, his tears fall despite his efforts.

He gazes at Mu Yueqing with reddened eyes, looking utterly aggrieved.

Help! He looks like he's about to break... Is this really the ruthless, ambitious male lead from the original novel?!

Theme: Those involved are blind to the truth, while outsiders see it clearly.