The Sickly Beauty and the Butcher's Knife

[Next historical romance: This Child Isn't Absolutely Necessary] Yu Li transmigrated into the body of a farm girl who had been sold by her family, and was married off to a sick scholar in the neighboring village to bring him good fortune. She thought the marriage was just an excuse to have her work as a maid in the scholar's household. To her surprise, she was actually becoming his wife, and would soon be the lady of the house, no longer worrying about where her next meal would come from. It didn't take long for her to realize that the scholar's family was just as poor, barely scraping by. Looking at the scholar, too ill to get out of bed, his elegant, immortal-looking face flushed with a sickly pink that gave him an eerie beauty, Yu Li drew a quiet breath. So what if she had to start over? She could decide for herself how to live. * With a sickly husband, a frail mother-in-law, and two children at home, the whole family needed to eat. Yu Li had no choice but to shoulder the burden of supporting them and find work. She wasn't good at needlework, washing clothes paid too little, dock work meant getting cheated, and she couldn't count on luck to find anything in the mountains. At least she was strong... The man asked, “What kind of work did you find?” Yu Li: “Slaughtering pigs.” The man: “...Have you done that before?” Yu Li said confidently, “No, but I've seen it done!” The man: “...” Just as Yu Li was getting into the swing of things, the scholar recovered. He sat for the imperial examinations all the way to the top and eventually became a duke, while Yu Li became a duchess. Yu Li's reaction: “...” P.S. 1. The dynasty is fictional, and very loosely based on anything real. 2. A slice-of-life farming story about family matters. 3. The heroine is incredibly strong. In the face of overwhelming strength, none of those awful people are a problem. ** Historical romance coming soon: This Child Isn't Absolutely Necessary. Add it to your reading list if you like it :) Xu Xiayu was born sickly and was known as a beautiful invalid. Marriage was considered unsuitable for her, and she was unlikely to have children, so she had accepted that she might spend her whole life unmarried in her parents' home. Then the old emperor suddenly played matchmaker, decreeing that she marry Prince Yan, who commanded the imperial army. On the eve of her wedding, Xu Xiayu had a dream and discovered she was the frail, arrogant legitimate elder sister in a popular story. To secure her position after marriage, she invited her half-sister into the manor and planned to have the girl bear a child for her, then raise that child as her legitimate heir. In the end, her husband and half-sister fell in love, she lost her mind, and she died a miserable death. When she woke, Xu Xiayu fell into deep thought and decided that having a child wasn't absolutely necessary. ** Prince Yan Ji Liao was the son of a palace maid who washed feet. Though he was a prince, he grew up poor and looked down upon. When he returned from the border with command of half a million troops, he became the prince most likely to claim the throne, and even the crown prince had to give way to him. To curb his power, the old emperor deliberately arranged a marriage for him, choosing a woman rumored to be unable to have children. Ji Liao was about to refuse, but when he saw the woman he'd been matched with, he decided the arrangement might be acceptable after all. If they couldn't have children, they could adopt a few. He had so many brothers; he could keep a few around just to father children. How many could he possibly want? After they married, Ji Liao began assessing his twenty-odd brothers to see which ones were suitable for fathering children. Those who weren't would be sent to join the late emperor. Princes: (▼皿▼#) Don't you go too far! * Historical romance: This Prince Refuses to Die Song Wanyuan, the legitimate eldest daughter of the Duke's household, had already outlived five fiancés. Everyone thought she was cursed, and must be some fierce, hulking woman with three heads and six arms. How else could she have killed so many men? The men of the capital were terrified, afraid she might bring about their deaths. As a result, Song Wanyuan became a notorious old maid. It wasn't until the flower-viewing banquet hosted by the Grand Princess Rong'an that everyone finally met this legitimate daughter of the Duke's household, who had grown up in Jiangnan. She was a stunning beauty, delicate and shy, like a magnolia blossom on a branch. Later, many people defended her. The rumors that she was a husband-killer were utter nonsense. Those men had simply been unlucky, and it had nothing to do with her. When Song Wanyuan was granted in marriage to Prince Ning, quite a few people secretly hoped he'd hurry up and die at her hands. - Prince Ning: (≧︶≦*) This prince refuses to die! Theme: Fight your way forward through hardship.