After Turning Black-Bellied, I Take Charge of the Male Lead's Crematorium

(Contest entry reason: The story of a lowly immortal girl, as wretched as a beggar, who grows up lonely and unloved. Though the gods show her no mercy, she never gives in to self-pity. Instead, she strives on her own to become the greatest god in the world.)

Blurb:

Orphaned Luo Li was transformed into the Queen of Heaven.

Everyone said she was lucky, that meeting Emperor of Heaven Yun Ling when they were young was a blessing earned over several lifetimes.

Luo Li never explained. She had helped the spirit folk of Xizhou end their famine, helped the human race of Dongzhou abolish slavery, and helped Heaven reorganize its armies to wage war against the Asura. She thought that since they had chosen to stand side by side, they should share both glory and disgrace. She did not care who got the credit.

But on the day the Demon Realm invaded, she had just used every last bit of her cultivation to seal the Well of the Heavenly Demon.

The usually tender-hearted Emperor of Heaven stood above the gods and personally ripped away her three hun and seven po souls.

/There can be no two rulers beneath heaven./

Only then did Luo Li understand that the so-called invasion of the Demon Realm was a lie. The person Yun Ling had schemed to eliminate out of fear was none other than her.

Her heart shattered. She resolutely leapt from the Execution Platform, leaving him not even a wisp of her soul.

No one had imagined she would be so resolute,

just as she herself had never imagined that a thousand years later, she would meet the reincarnated “Emperor of Heaven,” Baili Guiqing.

A sudden vicious impulse took hold of Luo Li. Wouldn't it be delightful to make him personally slaughter the Heavenly Dao he claimed to serve?

So, in the days that followed, she manipulated Baili Guiqing into conquering every corner of the world. She watched him gouge out his own immortal bones for the sake of the duplicitous woman she pretended to be, lose control and descend into madness, and stain the battlefield with blood. He fell from a cool, restrained, lofty true god into a gloomy, obsessive demon who humbly begged her for mercy.

And she, enthroned above the Three Realms, refused to show him even the slightest tenderness.

Then one night, an uninvited guest barged into her palace. He brought tens of thousands of heavenly soldiers and generals with him. It was Emperor of Heaven Yun Ling.

But the once-arrogant emperor, upon seeing Baili Guiqing behind her, disregarded even the dignity of the Heavenly Court that he valued most.

In front of tens of thousands of soldiers, his eyes reddened as he staggered toward her, pleading again and again:

“You said he was only my substitute! Say it!”

“As long as you say it, I'll believe you.”

“Say it. Please.”

Reading guide:

1. A brilliant, beautiful, strong, and tragic heroine who plays the pig to eat the tiger x a distant male lead who goes mad after falling from his pedestal. One-on-one, both leads are each other's first and only, happy ending.

2. A heroine-focused, plot-driven story. Originally titled After Faking My Death, I Became the Demon Lord's Fated Tribulation. This is not a simple version of the “substitute” trope.

3. The heroine does not commit suicide. She cherishes her life.

4. Baili Guiqing and Yun Ling are not the same person. One of them is a copy created by the Heavenly Dao. The copy and the male lead share memories, and for a time they coexist, one dark and one light. The first to meet the heroine is the male lead, the original. Both will have to pursue their wives after hurting them, but the heroine will not choose a scumbag.

5. The blurb has been screenshotted.

Please add my upcoming novel, Scheming Against the Emperor, to your collection!

Blurb:

(Xie Xiang)

At first, Xie Xiang thought Xiao An hated her.

After three years of a loving marriage, he suddenly cast her aside for a songstress.

He was the richest man in seven provinces, yet he drove her out of his home in the dead of winter and wouldn't let her take even a single tile.

Then one day,

she heard that Xiao An had been convicted and rushed to the execution grounds, only to learn the shocking truth.

It turned out that Xiao An had given up everything, shouldered a lifetime of infamy, and gone to his death under a false accusation, all to save her life.

His supposed heartlessness and betrayal were nothing more than an ingenious lie, tailor-made to let her begin a new life without any burdens.

That night, Xie Xiang held Xiao An's body, torn apart by five horses, and stitched it together all night. Her hair nearly turned white overnight.

For years afterward, she lived in silence and loneliness, concealing her brilliance as she carefully made her way into the imperial court.

For the rest of her life, she would walk a blood-soaked path, scheme to seize the throne, and live for revenge.

*

Xiao An:

At first, Xiao An only wanted to spend the rest of his life in peace with his beloved wife, Xie Xiang.

Though her origins were a mystery, her past was complicated, and all their family and friends opposed the match, he was willing to marry her all the same.

But kindness could not protect his wife, wealth could not bring his closest friend back to life, and his good deeds could not preserve even the last shred of dignity before he was unjustly put to death.

So Xiao An chose to personally slaughter his past, change his face, and start his life anew.

But the identity he had stolen was precarious, leaving him with only one choice: kill.

He made the empire his game board and himself the bait. If a Buddha stood in his way, he would kill the Buddha; if a man stood in his way, he would kill the man.

He believed the world owed him, and that he could climb to the top without a shred of guilt, stepping over anyone's corpse.

Until the day he saw her again.

His beloved wife, the great general Xie Xiang, strode into court in her armor. Just as he was about to ascend the throne, she suddenly turned her spear toward him, its tip aimed at his throat. Looking into his eyes, she asked:

“Tell me, are you him?”

1. A true lovers-to-enemies trope. Both leads are beautiful, strong, and tragic. Plot-driven.

2. The blurb has been screenshotted.

Theme: Before protecting the world, you must first become yourself.