Synopsis
DIY enthusiast and gourmet foodie Zhong Ruyuan wakes up one morning to find herself inside a novel about a man doting on his concubine. She has become the beautiful but empty-headed, lovesick and frail cannon-fodder heroine, destined to be married off by her wealthy merchant father to the Duke of An’s household in a transaction of power and money. There, she is to be the male lead’s official wife in name only, professionally getting in the way of the leads’ maddening love story by adding one brick and one tile to their obstacles.
Zhong Ruyuan: ???
Who wants to act in this tired old plot where it is supposedly “a movie about three people,” yet she does not even get a name and is ultimately expected to “sacrifice her life” for the male and female leads’ undying love? Whoever wants the role can have it. I’m getting out of here in style and living the carefree life I want: opening my own shop, making a fortune, and enjoying good food and fun.
But before she could even make it out the front gate, she ran headfirst into the arms of an “uncle” whose birth chart was probably at odds with hers, and was caught in a very appealing way...
Half a year later, Zhong Ruyuan, whose first escape attempt had failed, had made a name for herself in the capital, where the powerful and elite gathered. With her singular, unconventional creativity, she pioneered new ideas in clothing, handbags, food, drink, and entertainment, becoming a wealthy lady and an influential big shot whom everyone admired and envied. She was the sensation, the fashion, the fortune, the brilliance...
It was no exaggeration to say that the refined, fashionable clothes, accessories, food, and amusements of the capital’s noblewomen and socialites had all become inseparable from Zhong Ruyuan, the country girl who had once been mocked by the capital’s noble young ladies as “a bumpkin with the devil’s own luck.”
Even the “uncle” who had once looked at her with disdain and opposed and stopped her from escaping the marriage now willingly revolved around her every day, doing whatever she said.
Little scene:
“Uncle” Lan Xi (itching to ask): Um, when exactly are you leaving the Duke’s household? I’ve already prepared all the betrothal gifts. I’m just waiting for you to divorce...
Zhong Ruyuan (side-eyeing him): Hmph. You couldn’t care less about me before, and now you’re bowing so low you can’t get back up. You were arrogant before and obsequious now. I despise that sort of thing...
Lan Xi (rubbing his nose to hide his embarrassment): Heh heh.
Zhong Ruyuan (looking down her nose at him): Let me ask first, how much are your betrothal gifts worth? Do they measure up to the fortune I have now?
Lan Xi (secretly smug): Oh, well, my mother and elder brother said that if you want it, they can even move the royal treasury over as your betrothal gift.
Zhong Ruyuan (springing to her feet in shock): What??? Mother and elder brother, brother, brother, brother...
Good grief! I’ve been treating a prince and royal descendant like a servant all this time...
Um, if I kneel down and repent right now, is it still in time...
A few notes:
1. At the beginning, the heroine will go through with the family-arranged marriage to the original male lead, Yun Zhen. But it is a marriage in name only, and she will have no romantic entanglement with Yun Zhen. Through the marriage, she gets a dowry to fund her business and connections that help her enter the aristocratic circle. She comes from a merchant family and has no notable status of her own.
2. Her career takes center stage early on, and the romance develops slowly.
3. The male lead has a secret identity! A secret identity! A secret identity! He is not really an uncle.
4. This is a fictional setting, so please don’t nitpick historical accuracy. Everything serves the story; please don’t argue over details.
The background image on the cover came from an anonymous sweetheart on BS. Thanks!
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Coming soon: the historical romances The Adorable Princess Consort Doesn’t Know How to Handle Her Husband and Blessings to the General are on my profile. Feel free to visit my page and add them to your collection, mwah~
Theme: Work hard for yourself, and happiness will come.
