Scheming to Marry a Minister's Wife

Please add my next novel, Saving the Villainous Second Male Lead from a Tragic Romance, to your favorites! The blurb is at the very bottom~ Xue Cen went incognito to visit the home of the top scholar she had personally appointed. After a meal of duck stew, she decided that nothing in the imperial palace could compare to it, and started going to the scholar's home every day. Later, Xue Cen decided that the person who made the duck stew was just her type, and privately wanted to make them her own. The problem was, this person was the top scholar's wife. Xue Cen was so troubled she couldn't enjoy her food, so she started scheming every day about how to steal the man's wife. At the same time, the top scholar tried to persuade his wife at home: "For the sake of your future, you'd better find someone to marry soon." His wife refused, waving her spatula. "Men will only slow down my cooking. Isn't it better to team up with my best friend?" The top scholar was troubled too. Eventually, word got out that Xue Cen was trying to steal a minister's wife. The civil and military officials knelt outside the palace gates for a long time to remonstrate, only to see the top scholar transform into a woman. The officials: This fantastical world is impossible to understand. Also known as: The Years I Pretended to Be a Couple with My Cross-Dressing Best Friend and Fed the Emperor Dog Food Reader's guide: 1. This is a fictional setting, a fictional setting, a fictional setting. Please don't nitpick the history. 2. I won't answer questions about whether it's C or not. Unless the plot calls for it, I won't go out of my way to emphasize something that would make people uncomfortable. 3. Suggestions are welcome, personal attacks aren't. Life is hard enough, so why make things difficult for each other? Theme: Make use of every opportunity and work hard to gain true understanding