Reborn as the Owner of a Wine Shop

Next up: The Beloved Concubine. Here's the blurb:

After Shen Chenshu is brought back to the marquis's residence, she becomes the most doted-on young lady in the household and is betrothed to her cousin, Li Shiyun.

She thinks she will never have to wander from place to place again, and that she can build a warm home with her gentle, refined cousin, living in harmony with him.

But one day, her uncle Li Lanzhou, who has been away on official business in the south, returns, and everything suddenly becomes complicated.

Li Lanzhou is a man of exceptional talent, a gentleman in the eyes of the world, and a high-ranking official serving as chief minister.

He returns to the residence early, specifically for his nephew's wedding.

Her cousin takes Shen Chenshu to pay her respects to him. After she greets him with “Good day, Uncle,” she notices that, unlike everyone else, he doesn't smile. Instead, he looks at her with a sinister gaze.

Shen Chenshu is terrified, thinking her uncle dislikes her, so she deliberately avoids him and even pretends to be sick to escape paying her respects.

But the more she avoids him, the more closely Li Lanzhou keeps watch over her. One night, he even barges into her bedroom, ruins the wedding dress she is making, and tosses her a letter written in crooked handwriting.

Shen Chenshu is stunned. Isn't this the farewell letter she wrote to that nobleman?

It turns out that when Shen Chenshu was down on her luck and struggling to survive, she became the mistress of a nobleman.

That nobleman rescued her from a desperate situation, but he also came to her room every night and tormented her until she was in agony.

He arrived each nightfall and left before dawn. Shen Chenshu had never seen what he looked like.

Unable to endure that life any longer, she decided to take the money and run, leaving behind a farewell letter.

She never expected that after finally settling down, she would run into that devil again.

Bonus Scene:

Behind the rock garden, Li Lanzhou holds Shen Chenshu in his arms, one large hand resting on her waist. His eyes darken as he says, “You've gotten bold. You're my woman, and you still think you can marry someone else? Do you have a death wish?”

Shen Chenshu trembles. “N-no, Uncle. You... you must have mistaken me for someone else.”

Li Lanzhou tightens his grip, his breath brushing her neck. “Why don't you find out for yourself whether I've mistaken you?”

Blurb for this novel:

Gu Yu is the illegitimate daughter of a duke's family. Since she is not favored, she lives in the countryside with her mother, and they get along peacefully enough.

Then one day, she is sent in a small sedan chair to Prince Su's residence, where she becomes a tool for her older sister to secure the prince's favor.

Prince Su grows increasingly fond of Gu Yu, which makes her sister jealous. While the prince is away on official business in the south, her sister poisons Gu Yu with a bowl of poison and leaves her body in the wilderness.

When Gu Yu opens her eyes again, she discovers that she has been reborn in the days when she was still living in the countryside.

She has not yet been sent to Prince Su's residence, and everything is still as lovely as a clear moon and a gentle breeze.

In this life, she swears she will never live such a miserable existence again.

So she raises a ruckus at the duke's residence, driving the head wife into a furious frenzy and prompting the family to remove her name from their records, changing her status from a noble family's young lady to a commoner registered as a merchant.

She cooks delicious food, brews fine wine, opens a tavern, then opens more taverns. She is determined to become a little rich woman, make a fortune, and travel to see the great landscapes of the world.

But the new county magistrate's deputy refuses to leave her tavern, drinking one bowl of wine from noon until the moon rises above the willow branches. Whenever he sits down, the customers scatter like birds and beasts. How can she realize her dream of opening one tavern after another if this keeps up?

Bonus Scene

One day, as closing time approaches, Gu Yu wipes her hands on her apron and prepares to sit down and have a serious talk with the official.

“Sir, you come to my tavern every day and drive everyone away, ordering only one pot of wine and a plate of peanuts. Am I supposed to end up begging for scraps?”

“That's right.”

Gu Yu's anger reaches its limit. “What did you say?”

The official stands and leans close to Gu Yu's ear, lowering his voice. “That way, I can support you!”

Gu Yu: “…?”

1. One-on-one romance, lots of intimate scenes, and a happy ending.

2. The story is entirely fictional.

Theme: Where there's a will, there's a way.