(Abandoned) Transmigrated as the Cannon-Fodder Wife in an Imperial Exam Novel

Read at your own risk. This story has been unlocked, and I probably won't write more. I've forgotten most of it by now (runs away under a pot lid).

I'm terribly sorry. I wish you all the best and a happy life.

Coming soon: The Legitimate Wife of the Villain in the Concubine's Story. Please add it to your collection~

Blurb:

Jiang Tingchan transmigrates into an imperial-examination novel.

According to the plot, the male lead is born into a prominent family as a son of a concubine. After his legal mother poisons him, he is sent to the countryside to fend for himself.

His birth mother sees that he has little time left, so she spends her last savings on a peasant girl to bring him good luck and continue the family line.

Jiang Tingchan becomes the male lead's original wife, brought in to bring him good luck. She falls for someone else and causes trouble at every turn, eventually getting divorced. Then her stepmother sells her to an old man as a concubine, leaving her with a miserable fate.

Meanwhile, Gu Wenzheng gradually recovers. He turns out to be a genius, earns top honors in all three imperial examinations, rises rapidly through the ranks, and marries a beautiful, kindhearted wife. His life goes smoothly.

Hoping to coast to an easy win, she decides to keep her head down.

Though things are tough from the start, she won't make herself miserable. She believes her cooking skills can help her build a thriving life.

But the reality is:

Her mother-in-law, formerly a bodyguard, seems capable and clever, but can't cook or sew a stitch;

Her delicate and adorable younger brother-in-law is actually a child with autism;

Her talented and beautiful younger sister-in-law is a princess in the worst sense of the word;

And her promising future husband, the male lead, can only lie in bed and serve as a lucky charm.

Jiang Tingchan (lying flat): Let's just destroy everything. I'm tired.

Gu Wenzheng has known since birth that taking the imperial examinations is the only path open to him. But after falling gravely ill and being forced to recuperate in the countryside, he loses all motivation.

That is, until his mother brings home a wife for him to bring him good luck.

At first, he refuses. He doesn't want to ruin the girl's life. But she's already moved in, so he thinks, let's give it a try. If he dies, he'll let her go. If he is lucky enough to survive, he'll treat her well.

As they go on living together, he starts to change his mind.

First, he can't keep moping around. He needs to earn money and study.

Second, he won't just treat her well. He'll make sure she never regrets marrying him.

Today, too, he's working hard to earn noble titles for his mother and wife.

[Farming is the main focus, with the imperial examinations on the side. The story centers on food and business. The setting is fictional, with many original details, so please don't nitpick.]

Coming soon: The Legitimate Wife of the Villain in the Concubine's Story

[Content warning: The heroine is not a virgin, while the hero is.]

Blurb: Jiang Yao transmigrates. Her first few years are glorious: born into a distinguished family, she marries the heir to the Marquis of Yongning as his legal wife.

But her husband is haughty and cold, treating her with distant courtesy, and... keeping a mistress in a golden cage.

Jiang Yao: ...It's fine. As long as he keeps me rich and comfortable, I'll pretend I know nothing.

She has barely had two days to let things slide when his illegitimate child is born and his darling mistress comes to her door.

Only then does she realize she's transmigrated into a story about a kept woman, becoming the vicious legal wife who does every evil deed and is ultimately run through the heart by the male lead's sword.

When the male lead tells her he wants to bring his mistress into the household, she nods without hesitation. "No problem. Better yet, let's get the divorce papers written right away."

The male lead: "?"

Back at her parents' home, her parents pressure her to return. Her relatives urge her to remarry, and her ex-husband comes pestering her, begging for forgiveness.

What kind of trash plot is this, getting back together after a breakup? No one is going to ruin her carefree life.

"Actually, I was in love with your second younger brother from the start. Unfortunately, he left for the frontier. When I learned he'd given his life for his country, I regretted everything, so I've decided to follow my heart and marry him, then remain faithful to him for the rest of my life (even if it's a marriage in name only)."

The ex-husband: "???"

On the day his elder brother got married, Xiao Chenzhi only caught a distant glimpse of the bride beneath her veil. After the wedding feast, he left to join his maternal uncle on a military campaign.

She was his brother's wife, his sister-in-law. As a son who wasn't the eldest, he couldn't give her the honored position of marquise.

All he could do was head to the frontier, put distance between himself and his feelings, and protect her peace and the honor of the marquis's household.

In the desert of yellow sand, he was caught in a trap and captured. He spent five years undercover in enemy territory, then finally helped destroy the enemy in a coordinated attack and returned victorious.

Returning to the capital covered in glory, he became a feared war god, revered by the common people and dreaded by the officials. Even his family kept their distance from him.

At a banquet, he asked his elder brother, "Where's my sister-in-law?"

His brother's mouth twitched and his gaze wandered. His father's face turned black as the bottom of a pot, and he looked ready to flip the table and leave.

His brother looked at him with a complicated expression. "While you were away, the family arranged a marriage for you..."

Xiao Chenzhi: "???"

(Skit)

Xiao Chenzhi rides back to his ancestral home. There is a cenotaph for him here,

and the woman he hasn't seen in five years, who has somehow become his wife in name.

What kind of life has she been living?

Does she weep all day, dressed in plain clothes and simple hairpins, or has she lost her appetite and grown thinner by the day?

Passerby: "I wish Madam Jiang would take me under her wing too. Then I'd rise to fame and bring glory to my family in no time."

Xiao Chenzhi: "Who is Madam Jiang?"

Passerby: "A living bodhisattva, the richest woman in the land, a fairy... See the road under your feet? Madam Jiang paid to have it built. See those school buildings? She paid to build them too."

Xiao Chenzhi: "..."

Passerby (dreamily): "Too bad only handsome men with knowledge and martial skills can stay by her side. If only I were as handsome as you!"

Theme: Strive to improve yourself in the face of adversity