I Keep Getting Courted

Pre-release: The Poet Transmigrates into an Old-School Novel. Take a look if you're interested.

My friend's pre-release novel: The Melodramatic Drama Queen Quits, by Wen Yan.

Shao Yi is the emperor of the Great Yang Dynasty, a master of both letters and arms. He once overthrew the previous dynasty's debauched and tyrannical rule, then promoted literature, eased taxes and labor duties, strengthened the military, drove out foreign invaders, and expanded the realm.

By his own efforts, he tripled the territory of Great Yang, laying a solid foundation for Huaguo to become the world's largest country in later generations. History calls him Emperor Shaowu.

In the third year of Great Yang, rumors say Shao Yi is violent and quick-tempered, extraordinarily handsome, and dislikes his empress, whom he married to forge an alliance between noble families.

So, on the once-every-three-years selection day, countless women who have transmigrated arrive, smitten by his reputation and convinced they are the chosen heroine. They pull out all the stops to become the one true love and cherished moonlight in Shao Yi's heart.

*

At the Lantern Festival, Transmigrator Number One sings "Prelude to Water Melody" in a lilting voice, then gazes tenderly at Shao Yi. "Your Majesty~"

From his seat of honor, the young and handsome ruler holds a wine cup, the corner of his mouth curling up. "The lyrics are good, but the singer is vulgar. She is nowhere near as good as the empress."

Yuan Shili, who once sang so badly during a battle that she frightened the enemy into retreating, gives an awkward yet polite smile and silently crushes the wine cup in her hand. Don't bring up my embarrassing past, okay!

Transmigrator Number One: ???

*

At the Mid-Autumn Festival, Transmigrator Number Two dances with a sword beneath the moonlight, her eyes brimming with emotion as she moves. "Your Majesty~"

But the ruler, whom history describes as a martial arts enthusiast, gazes thoughtfully at the mark her sword has just made in the ground. "If that had been the empress, the floor would already have split into several pieces."

Yuan Shili, who once blew up a section of city wall when her mental powers ran wild, silently steps on the impeccably proper ruler's foot. "Could you stop bringing up my embarrassing past?"

The extraordinarily handsome ruler keeps a straight face and says nothing.

Transmigrator Number Two: ???

Why isn't this going the way I imagined? What am I doing? Oh, eating dog food!

This novel is also known as:

#Someone Keeps Trying to Drive a Wedge Between Me and My Empress#

#What, the History Books Want to Record My Everyday Life with the Empress? I Won't Allow It. Such Private Matters Should Be Buried Together in Our Tombs!#

#All Those Years We Were Misled by the History Books#

A cocky, confident, straight-laced, overpowered male lead X a cute, clueless heroine with maxed-out combat skills

Shao Yi X Yuan Shili

Pre-release blurb----

In the third year of Great Yan, at the peony banquet, the daughter of the Duke of Cheng, previously known as utterly unremarkable, dazzles the entire capital with the line, "If our love is to last forever, what does it matter if we cannot be together every day?" More masterpieces soon follow:

"Tune: Rain at the Lingling Pavilion" captures the sorrow of parting through the ages; "To Huang Jifu" reveals the longing between kindred spirits; "Prelude to Water Melody" stirs countless travelers with thoughts of home... Not to mention "Rouge Lips," "Climbing Feilai Peak," and other celebrated works recited throughout Great Yan. Thus, Wen Yu, daughter of the Duke of Cheng, is hailed as the greatest female poet of all time.

Li Qingzhao, the true greatest female poet of all time, who has no idea how she transmigrated here: "?"

I hear someone is passing off my poems as their own?

They have decent taste, but why are there poems by other people in there too?

And so, an anthology of Song Dynasty poetry appears out of nowhere, recording poems from a distant foreign dynasty, each one a masterpiece.

The people of Great Yan, who adore literature, gladly open the book to read, only to find that its very first page contains the editor's critique of Wen Yu's recently famous poems:

"Tune: Rain at the Lingling Pavilion" follows the melody, but the lyrics are unbearably vulgar.

The people of Great Yan: ?

"The Immortal at the Magpie Bridge" is hollow and unrealistic, with no connection to ordinary life.

The people of Great Yan who praised this poem in their essays just days ago: ?

"To Huang Jifu" has too many flaws to be considered first-rate.

The people of Great Yan rolling up their sleeves to beat up the author: ?

How arrogant! If you can do better, then do it!

Then, suppressing their anger, they turn to the second page: Although the poems mentioned above are a mess, that doesn't mean someone can just accuse their author of plagiarism. Below are the original poets' names and biographies.

The people of Great Yan, whose anger suddenly fizzles out: ???

Well, this is explosive gossip!

#Hey, Have You Heard Any Good Gossip Today?#

#I'm Busy Admiring "Green Jade Table." I don't have time. Xin Qiji is so good, I have to scream his praises! Sob, sob. "I search for him in the crowd, then suddenly turn, and there he is, where the lanterns are dim." That's so good. Isn't he writing about me and my wife?#

#The person above showing off their love can get lost. Am I the only one wondering what the greatest female poet, Miss Wen, thinks of this?#

Wen Yu, who according to the original timeline would rise higher and higher, win the admiration of young officials and military officers throughout Great Yan's upper circles, and eventually spark internal unrest: #￥%…@

This is a quick transmigration novel, and the blurb describes the first world.

Poets who may appear in later worlds include Li Bai, Su Shi, Lu You, and Bai Juyi.

Reader's note:

1. Updates come at strange hours, any time between 11 p.m. and midnight. I'll post an advance notice if I need to take a day off.

2. As the blurb says, there are many transmigrators, both men and women. The heroine is half-transmigrator and half native, while the male lead is a native. The events in the blurb take place in the latter half of the novel, after the male lead ascends the throne.

3. The historical setting draws on the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods through the Wei and Jin dynasties. It is for worldbuilding purposes only, not historical research.

Theme: May I find one heart to call my own, and stay together until our hair turns white.