After Marrying My Nemesis in My Place (Disguised as a Man)

Jiang Ran disguises herself as a man and has become a powerful minister at a young age.

In court, she and the young emperor are wary of each other.

As they trade open and covert blows, she plots to marry her younger sister to the emperor, using their marriage alliance to keep him in check.

Unfortunately, on the wedding day, her sister elopes with the man she loves.

Jiang Ran: ...

With no other choice, she steps into the fray herself and takes her sister's place at the altar.

By day, she is the powerful minister the emperor despises, and the two scheme against each other. By night, she is his bedmate, feigning tenderness to pry more information from him.

She is both a powerful minister and the empress.

*

After ascending the throne, the young emperor finds himself at odds in court with one particular minister. They have nursed a grudge for years and have long been bitter enemies.

By chance, he marries the minister's younger sister.

At first, he is wary and indifferent.

He repeatedly looks for ways to humiliate her and take revenge on her brother. But the empress is gentle and refined, with a kind disposition, and he gradually falls for her, until he is finally in love.

So the emperor thinks: The minister must be eliminated, but the empress can stay.

He makes a meticulous plan behind the empress's back, targeting her brother and hoping she won't find out.

But on the day the minister dies,

his empress disappears too.

And steals his most important military tally.

*

Knowing he has been deceived and betrayed, the emperor flies into a rage and orders a search for them both.

After many twists and turns, he finds the minister's "younger sister," only to realize that she isn't his wife. Apart from this sister, the minister has no other family in the world.

The two look remarkably alike.

So who, exactly, is his wife...?

An answer he dares not acknowledge suddenly comes to the emperor's mind.

He looks at the hand that loosed the arrow at the minister. The fingertips hanging slightly downward begin to tremble.

His palm presses against the cold blade of his sword, and deep, bloodied gashes appear, some nearly exposing bone. He doesn't seem to notice. Suddenly, he laughs softly.

"You took the military tally. You must still be alive."

"...You'll come back to take revenge on me, to see me, even to kill me. Just like before... won't you?"

#She is both the rival he has battled for years and the beloved who haunts his dreams

Both leads are each other's only partner. The male lead did not kill the female lead.

Theme: A worthy opponent