Lu Jingyao, the only official's daughter in the village, had fallen on hard times.
Her father, an official, was dismissed and their home confiscated by Prime Minister Lin Feng.
One by one, her relatives turned their backs on her.
Her fiance, who had benefited from her kindness, immediately broke off their engagement.
The villagers all said Lu Jingyao's good fortune had run out, and she would never get back on her feet.
But they watched in amazement as her life took off after she adopted a kitten.
The treats she made for it became all the rage in the capital, impossible to find at any price.
The bath beans she made for it won the Empress's favor and were specially selected as tribute.
Even the Emperor, who hated cats most of all, changed his tune. He started coming to her home every few days just to see her kitten.
Lu Jingyao thought the kitten must be a lucky star sent by Heaven.
Until one day,
she watched the kitten in her arms turn into a person,
a man.
The very man who had confiscated her home and turned her from an official's daughter into a poor girl:
Prime Minister Lin Feng.
Content warnings: 1. A farming story with lots of everyday family life.
2. The leads have a ten-year age gap.
Coming next: After the Aloof Daoist Woman Used Me and Cast Me Aside:
In the first year of Tianshou, the two sages ruled together, and strange supernatural events ran rampant.
Eight women died violent deaths in quick succession in Luoyang, the Eastern Capital. Their gruesome deaths seemed beyond human doing.
The two sages personally issued an edict, inviting the greatest female Daoist in the realm, Ji Changqing, abbess of Xuanzhen Temple, to descend from her mountain and subdue the demons.
Ji Changqing was exceptionally gifted and possessed a talent all cultivators envied: she was born unable to experience romantic love, so her Daoist heart remained steadfast.
But no one knew her secret.
Three years earlier, she had been poisoned by a love potion and spent one night with a stranger.
As he asked her name between the sheets, Ji Changqing's potion had worn off. She left without a word.
Three years later, Ji Changqing descended from her mountain to subdue the demons.
At a murder scene, she ran into the man she had used and cast aside:
He Lanhun, a director in the Ministry of Justice.
II.
When He Lanhun was a spoiled young lord, he single-handedly held up half the capital's idle aristocracy. After joining the Ministry of Justice, he took on and solved major cases all by himself, forcing a department full of slackers to work hard and become experts.
Everyone knew He Lanhun had no scruples, but never pursued women.
Rumor had it that he had once encountered a female demon at night, who drained his vital essence and left him impotent.
When He Lanhun heard the rumor, he cracked the rumor-spreader over the head with a brick.
Then he saw the "female demon" said to have drained his vital essence.
She wasn't a demon, but a Daoist who hunted demons.
She was also the greatest female Daoist in the realm, Ji Changqing.
He Lanhun held the brick and rubbed his chin.
Well, this was getting interesting.
The cold-hearted, emotionless greatest female Daoist who uses people and tosses them aside x the hot-blooded, money-flashing, defiant greatest playboy in the realm
Another upcoming story: I Ran Away Pregnant After He Took Me by Force:
Cui Fu was born in a time of chaos.
A beautiful orphan in such times could easily end up with a life worth less than grass, but Cui Fu was lucky.
Her husband loved and cherished her, and his family ruled over a territory. She was the future matriarch of the clan.
Until the day King Changping, Xiao Xun, led his army to take her husband's city and demanded her by name.
Cui Fu walked alone through the falling snow into the bedchamber and recognized Xiao Xun: the man she had saved three years ago.
His features were striking. He lifted her chin with a callused hand and murmured:
"Madam, give yourself to me, and I will spare your family."
Cui Fu had no choice and suffered endless humiliation.
When Xiao Xun married a noblewoman, Cui Fu had a dream.
In the dream, she and Xiao Xun were characters in a book. Xiao Xun would die because of her, and she would lose her life as well.
After waking, Cui Fu thought it over. Xiao Xun might be hateful, but life was precious. She had no reason to throw hers away for him.
Cui Fu ran away.
Only after fleeing did she discover that she was carrying Xiao Xun's child.
II.
Xiao Xun was a fearless warrior who did as he pleased. Cui Fu was his one weakness.
He had given her his whole heart, but she schemed against him, and he died on her bed.
Reborn, Xiao Xun still couldn't let go of Cui Fu.
The woman was gentle and obedient, as docile as a cat.
But he knew she was only humoring him. All she wanted was his life.
He had to guard against her, keep her imprisoned, and hold her tight in his grasp,
so she would spend her life as a canary in his cage.
But to his surprise, he let his guard down for one moment, and the canary escaped.
Even more surprising, when he traveled across mountains and rivers to find her, she was holding a child and smiling as she called another man "husband."
Theme: Stay positive through adversity and enjoy every day
How to Humiliate the Cold and Aloof Minister
After Breaking Off the Engagement, I Married His Older Brother
A Friend's Wife
Plucking Cherry Blossoms
Scheming for a Wife
The Chancellor Regrets Our Divorce
Tales of the Strange in the Eastern Capital
He Regretted It After I Ran Away with His Child
The Darling in His Palm
After Losing My Memory, I Saved the Person Who Tried to Assassinate Me
How Can I Resist Her Blade-Like Charm?
The Sickly Beauty's White Moonlight
Author, hurry up and write! Write a story where the scumbag male lead suffers utter ruin, his family is destroyed, he loses his arms and legs, and he has to beg for a living for the rest of his life.
One impression is that the female lead has a really mild and gentle personality.
Zhang Jin is really despicable! He's supposed to be at odds with the female lead's father, but why didn't he say that when he received the favor? If he's so against her, why doesn't he just give back the title of scholar? He's really hypocritical!
Congratulations on starting your post! Sprinkling flowers, muah!
I've had this saved for years, and it hasn't been updated since.
Has the story been abandoned?
Kittens, so cute, hahaha. Goodbye to those who lack male virtue and morality, and may they all end up with a miserable fate.
Sophisticated egoists, ha! Turning black into white! For someone like that to be an official, ha!
My fiancé is just an ordinary guy! What does Ayao see in him? Is it his poverty, his selfishness, or his greasy nature? Why should she let him manipulate her? He's so self-important, acting like giving her a title is some kind of favor.
The author has the scumbag break off his engagement with the female lead, and then, after the engagement is broken off, he has her find out that he is not qualified, so that he can never take the exam again.