A Foodie's Guide to Bianjing

Complete! Please add my new story, Lonely Smoke and Green Dai, to your favorites!

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Also known as A Guide to Exploring Bianjing, Savoring Bianliang, and The Bianjing Food Guide

Blurb 1: Lu Yuzhao opens her eyes and finds herself transported to Bianliang, a city brimming with all kinds of delicious food. The streets are lined with colorful snacks, there is a bustling night market food street, seventy-two grand restaurants, and countless small inns and eateries...

And so Bianjing gains a food critic, Miss Lu, who spends her leisurely days roaming the city in search of things to eat and drink.

Blurb 2:

When the model young lady of the Deputy Prime Minister's household is forced to marry Gu Yun, a good-for-nothing playboy who spends his days at brothels and theaters in Bianliang...

The bride takes poison in her bridal sedan, and Lu Yuzhao transmigrates into her body.

She thinks,

A wealthy family, a house, parents who are more or less dead, and a husband who spends every day at brothels and theaters instead of coming home...

Marriage, marriage, marriage! What a perfect life! Why would anyone be so foolish as to turn it down?

.

After the wedding, everyone waits to see the marriage become a laughingstock...

Who could have guessed that the newlyweds would be so affectionate and live such a happy life that everyone would envy them?

Lu Yuzhao grabs Gu Yun by the hand and tilts her head with a loving smile. "Second Young Master, wait for me!"

Gu Yun leans in with a half-smile. "Darling, don't run. The street is crowded. You might fall."

"..."

The two gaze at each other for a moment, link arms, and head out. As soon as they leave the manor, they let go of each other...

One goes to Fanlou to drink and sample the new dishes, while the other heads to the theaters to watch a play and hear the latest songs.

Gu Yun: I thought I'd married a virtuous young lady who was thrifty and good at managing a household. Turns out she's even better than me at having fun and spending money.

Lu Yuzhao: I am not! I didn't!

- Perhaps a marriage-of-convenience-to-love story, a goofy everyday tale of a pair of ancient drama queens eating, drinking, and trying to out-act each other.

- A cozy, food-filled slice-of-life story

- Fictional setting loosely inspired by the Song dynasty. The historical framework is very loose, so please don't nitpick!

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Please add my new story, Lonely Smoke and Green Dai, to your favorites:

Chanting echoes through the Buddhist temple, and the bell tolls in the distance.

In a meditation room, Wei Song asks to see his uncle from the clan.

Not long after his ex-wife arrived in Liangzhou, he asks his uncle about her and entrusts him to look after her.

Wei Wujiao still bears the dampness of a recent bath. He casually straightens his collar and nods with a careless smile. "I'll take good care of her."

Wei Song bows in thanks, feeling much more at ease.

He has come here intending to reclaim the divorce letter and reconcile with his ex-wife.

Behind the screen in the same room, the space is dim and unlit. Steam rises from the hot bathwater.

Chu Qingyi curls up with her knees against her chest in the tub, her skin flushed red from the heat. Her cheeks are crimson, and she can barely breathe.

Ripples of water lap at the back of her ear and the side of her neck, where teeth marks appear and disappear.

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Chu Qingyi was born into a poor family and married into the Duke of Liang's household at seventeen.

Her father told her, "The Wei family is an eminent clan. This is the finest marriage I could find for you. You must cherish it." He also taught her that a wife should be virtuous and bring honor to the Chu family. She was to set an example for her younger siblings.

She followed his instructions faithfully. She cared for her frail husband and served her parents-in-law with devotion. Her husband had a beloved woman he could never forget, but she felt neither jealousy nor anger. They were distant as a couple, but at least they treated each other with respect. She quietly played the part of his wife without ever asking for his love.

For a time, she became the model virtuous wife of Chang'an.

In the instant she died for no clear reason outside Liangzhou, she looked back on her life...

For her parents and younger siblings, for the Chu family, for her husband and parents-in-law,

she had been a dutiful daughter, a gentle older sister, a virtuous wife, and a respectful daughter-in-law.

It was as if she had no name. She had spent her whole life living for others.

*

When she opens her eyes again, she is in Liangzhou.

She decides to uncover the truth and avoid being assassinated and dying a senseless death in a foreign land. She will divorce her husband and escape a marriage that feels like a prison. She will no longer care about her parents' expectations or bear the burden of bringing glory to her family.

In this second life, she will live for herself.

Chu Qingyi turns her gaze to her husband's uncle, a man who commands a powerful army and rules over his own domain:

Wei Wujiao, military governor of Hexi.

He is the person in all of Hexi best able to protect her.

She deliberately approaches him, carefully using his power to save her own life.

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Wei Wujiao once believed that

Chu Qingyi was a tame rabbit without claws or fangs, merely a harmless-looking creature who had approached him and piqued his interest.

He takes his time playing cat and mouse with her.

Later, desire takes hold, and he cannot resist claiming the rabbit and making her entirely his.

Later still, he discovers that she was the hunter all along, laying a vast net to lure him into her trap.

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A proper, gentle young wife X a rebellious, rakish uncle by marriage

1. In her previous life, the heroine was selfless and always put others first, with no sense of self. After being reborn, she sets out to find her own identity, reshape herself, and awaken to her own needs.

2. A story of calculated seduction and taking what one wants. There is no romantic relationship during the marriage. The uncle is the male lead, seven years older than the heroine. The heroine is not a virgin; the hero is.

3. Fictional Tang dynasty setting. Please don't nitpick the history.

Theme: Promote ancient Chinese cuisine and pursue an inspiring life.