Reborn as the Foil to the Heroine of an Imperial Exam Novel

Jiang Lichu transmigrates into an imperial-examination novel. The heroine's family favors sons over daughters, and marries her off to the impoverished male lead to pay for her brother's wedding. She earns money to support the household and pays for the male lead's studies. After he passes the imperial exams and becomes the top scholar, they grow old together. Jiang Lichu is the heroine's foil. She has a winning hand: her family owns vast estates, and her brother has a talent for business, traveling far and wide. Yet she insists on ruining her own life by marrying a penniless scholar and supporting her husband's studies for decades. In the end, her dowry is gone and she has achieved nothing. Hoping to climb the social ladder, she is drowned by her mother-in-law and husband. Her father and brother try to avenge her, only to be framed by their enemies. She arrives at just the right time, before any of this has happened. Her family still owns hundreds of acres of good farmland, and she is still unmarried. As long as she doesn't ruin her own life, anything is possible. Theme: No matter how good a man is, you're better off relying on yourself.