A Man of Qi Had a Wife and a Concubine

Also known as: After Retiring, the Spy Marries and Discovers the Household Mistress Is a Female War God.

Sui Hao is a spy carefully trained by the Xinmaowei, the imperial intelligence agency.

She spent eleven years undercover in an enemy nation, earning great merit, saving countless civilians, and staining her hands with blood.

Then a new emperor ascends the throne, and the two nations make peace. The new emperor actually wants to disband the agency and recall all its spies?

Sui Hao: If that old emperor wants to make a deal with a tiger, don't blame me for quitting!

Besides, she's tired of living with a knife at her throat. It's time to find a respectable family and enjoy retirement.

Preferably one where her husband is busy with his career, the household mistress is easy to handle, and there's a stepdaughter she can become a mother to without the pain of childbirth.

As it happens, there's just such a household:

Qi Sanlang, the military commander of Longcheng, keeps his distance from women and is always busy with work.

He married a foolish wife, the narrow-minded youngest daughter of the Xie family.

He also has an adorable eldest daughter born to a concubine, sweet as honey.

With a little scheme, she can become a concubine and enjoy a blissful retirement.

But only after entering the Qi household does Sui Hao discover that this family is nothing like she expected.

The honest and loyal husband she was promised has turned out to be a crafty schemer who never shows his hand?

The sweet, sensible daughter she was promised has turned out to be a sly, suspicious little fox with a knife behind her smile?

The selfish, stupid legal wife she was promised has turned out to be a female war god who can hit a target from a hundred paces and scale walls?

Sui Hao: No, this isn't the retirement I wanted.

Xie Xin: Where are you going, little sister? We can't waste the best years of our lives! Let's join forces to wipe out the bandits, drive out the enemy, build Longcheng, and restore the state!

Xie Xin was born in a time of chaos and grew up as her country fell.

From bandit to rebel leader, from notorious traitor to prisoner. No matter how dire her circumstances, she believed that one day those who came after her would drive out every foreign invader and bring peace to the people.

After dying, she transmigrates a hundred years into the past, becoming the newlywed wife of Qi Sanlang, the defender of Longcheng.

Xie Xin: Since I'm here, I might as well take care of bringing peace to the people.

But before she can take the first step toward that grand undertaking, she loses her head over the concubine in her household. How can anyone be so radiant with every smile and frown, sparkling with every gesture?

Xie Xin: You must be a beautiful snake who knows how to captivate hearts, a fox spirit who bewitches the eyes, a deadly cord that ensnares the soul, a bone-deep fragrance that wears down the will.

Sui Hao: I'll give you one more chance. Try that again.

Xie Xin: You are the sharp sword in my hand, the armor on my body, the candle lighting my way, the lily I secretly treasure.

The pinnacle of martial prowess / Never loses a battle / A war god descended to earth / Devoted to spoiling her wife / Female general

Vs

Brains with nowhere to use them / Master of both intelligence and criminal investigation / Deadly poison master / Just wants to retire / Spy queen

Content warnings and spoilers:

1. Plot-focused, set in a fictional world without historical research, with a slow-burn romance.

2. The wife is the pursuer and the concubine is the pursued; the wife is older.

3. The general is a woman disguised as a man, a woman disguised as a man, a woman disguised as a man.

4. About their identities: the legal wife (transmigrated from another ancient setting), the concubine (a retired spy), the general (transmigrated from the present to the past), the daughter (reborn).

Theme: Building a family, governing a country, and bringing peace to the world