A Woodcutter Girl's Daily Struggle to Survive in Troubled Times

Ye Yun Yao transmigrated. She became a woodcutter girl who made her living chopping firewood. The dynasty was in its final years, rife with war and chaos. Her home was bare, and her family was dirt-poor. Her family consisted of a father who had died in battle, a mother who had died young, awful relatives, and children as thin as sticks. - Luckily, there was a mountain rich in different species behind her home. Looking at her starving younger siblings, who were on the verge of death, Ye Yun Yao took up her hatchet and headed up the mountain... With her hard work, their lives grew better and better. - But the county office posted a notice announcing a new wartime policy: any woman who was unmarried at eighteen would be forcibly married off. Her uncles came to see her and told her to marry without worry. They would take good care of her younger siblings and her property. Ye Yun Yao swung her hatchet at them. "Get lost!" - After driving off her scheming relatives, Ye Yun Yao asked the man who had just handed her the hatchet, "How about joining forces and making a life together?" The handsome, refined scholar lowered his eyes. "You saved my life. I am willing to follow you for the rest of mine." After they married, life settled down for a while. - Until one day, when she returned from the mountain with her younger siblings, she saw two groups of people fighting fiercely in her home from a distance. Her son-in-law, who supposedly couldn't even truss a chicken and was as timid as a mouse, was now standing at the gate with his hands behind his back, watching the fight with serene composure. Only when a burly man in black smashed the water vat she had just bought with a single blow did he dart over like a ghost, grab the man's throat, and slam him hard onto the shards of the broken vat... *Food / farming / cozy / building a fortune / raising children / political intrigue *One couple / first love for both / happy ending / sweet romance / satisfying read (Synopsis captured and archived on June 8, 2025) "The Exiled Days of a Villain's Original Wife": He Qing Ran transmigrated into a book. She became the cannon-fodder original wife of Xie He Xun, the villain in the story. In the book, on the very day of their wedding, Xie He Xun was charged with treason and thrown straight into the imperial prison. Unwilling to be exiled, his original wife used her status as princess consort to sign and seal a confession of treason, in exchange for a pardon. But who could have guessed that on the day Xie He Xun set out into exile, her own father would order her strangled to death, all in the name of preserving the family's honor... When He Qing Ran transmigrated into the book, her hand was covered in cinnabar, and she was just about to press it down. Not far away, Xie He Xun, covered in blood, was staring at her with eyes as cold as a deep pool. He Qing Ran shuddered and quickly raised her hand. Going home meant certain death. She might as well go into exile with him first. Without hesitation, she grabbed the confession bearing her signature and tore it to shreds. Then she went to Xie He Xun, tears in her eyes. "Husband, a single day as husband and wife earns a hundred days of affection. Even if I die, I will never become a despicable traitor who betrays you." Xie He Xun watched her silently for a long time, then finally nodded slowly. Seeing that he believed her, He Qing Ran relaxed, planning to find a chance to escape once they reached the place of exile. She simply hadn't expected that after going there, she would never manage to get away. Instead, years later, she returned to the capital by the same route with him, no longer a disgraced exile bearing the mark of a criminal, but an empress revered by all the people. *One couple / sweet romance / first love for both / happy ending "Three Years After Marrying Up": Ye Wan Ying was the youngest daughter of a sixth-rank official in the Ministry of Works. She was stunningly beautiful, sweet-natured, and charmingly naive. At a palace banquet, the emperor took it into his head to personally arrange her marriage to Fu Jun Heng. - Fu Jun Heng was the empress's nephew and the crown prince's cousin. His father, the Duke of Ying, had helped the emperor claim the throne, and his family was exceptionally powerful. Fu Jun Heng himself was a master of both letters and arms, with peerless looks. A man like him should have been every young lady in the capital's dream match. But because he also served as head of the Imperial City Office, noble daughters everywhere gave him a wide berth. - As the highest-ranking official in the Imperial City Office, Fu Jun Heng was the emperor's trusted confidant and the court's enforcer in the capital. All the secret or troublesome matters the emperor could not handle personally were entrusted to him. Rumors swirled through the capital, saying he was bloodthirsty and ruthless, that his methods were cruel, and that he had countless lives on his hands. They also said that to force confessions, he had personally skinned and dismembered people, and that he often cut off their heads and kicked them around like balls... - Ye Wan Ying had naturally heard those rumors too. After receiving the imperial decree, she summoned her courage and sneaked a glance at him. He was shrouded in a heavy, murderous aura, his face cold as ice and his eyes sharp as knives as he stared straight at her. She had always been timid. One look was enough to leave her terrified and feverish for days on end. - But an imperial command was as immovable as a mountain. Once the decree was issued, there was no going back. Her father was only a sixth-rank Ministry of Works official, with little influence and no say. How could she let her own selfish wishes bring trouble upon the family who loved her dearly? With no other choice, she married him, anxious and uneasy. - Fortunately, he was just as indifferent to women as the rumors claimed. On their wedding night, he spent only one night lying on the bed. Before dawn, he received an imperial summons and set off for war. He was gone for three years. Ye Wan Ying enjoyed the peace and freedom. Her parents-in-law adored and indulged her so much that she often forgot she was the Duke of Ying's daughter-in-law, thinking instead that she was their own daughter. - Just as she was getting carried away, the husband she had not seen for three years returned victorious from the war. On the night they reunited, the man, now even more imposing and towering, approached her with an even more fearsome aura. Ye Wan Ying abruptly woke from her dream and stammered, trembling, "I... I want a divorce..." *Married first, fall in love later / one couple / first love for both / happy ending / sweet romance Theme: Don't be afraid to face difficulties!