Get Rich, Starting with Widowhood

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Lu Ning transmigrated. The good news: she became one of the most honored women in the Great Xia Dynasty. The Empress Dowager was her mother, and the emperor was her older brother.

The bad news: she had just become a widow, and she was confined to her quarters because of talk of her remarrying.

Lu Ning smacked her forehead. How could remarrying compare to the joys of widowhood?

After she was widowed, Lu Ning watched the palace’s gifts pour in like a stream. So on the first day of each month, she burned incense and paid respects to her late husband; on the third, she invited the city’s noble young ladies to admire the flowers; on the fifth, she held rehearsals for the opera troupe; and on the seventh, she visited her in-laws to win them over.

Having seen women disadvantaged in every way simply because of their gender, she set out to improve their standing. She established schools for girls, so more of them could learn to read, study, and understand the world.

She promoted women doctors, so women would no longer find it difficult or embarrassing to seek medical care and could get help in time.

She developed career opportunities for women, giving them the confidence to leave their past behind and start anew.

Just as Lu Ning was busily enjoying herself, Xie Yan came back!

Lu Ning panicked. She had played the devoted wife too well and acted too convincingly. What was the best way to ask for a divorce?

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Ye Wanning transmigrated. The good news: she became the empress of a nation.

The bad news: the lousy emperor seemed to be planning to depose her and promote his true love.

Absolutely not. She planned to outlive the emperor and become the Empress Dowager. To secure her position as empress, and eventually as Empress Dowager, Ye Wanning managed the harem with great care, until one day Lady Ding accused Lady Zhuang of poisoning her.

Ye Wanning glanced at the sachet on Lady Ding and rolled her eyes.