The Little Princess Thinks She's the Villainess

Yuanbao read an illustrated story about a poor but resilient girl who passed the exam to become a female official, found a good husband, and fearlessly stood up to the powerful when they tried to stop a spoiled, domineering young lady from coveting the man she loved. It was quite exciting. Then one day, she realized that the childhood friend with whom she had a verbal marriage agreement had a female official by his side. Not only did she look just like the woman in the story, her personality was almost identical, too. And her handsome, composed childhood friend admired her greatly. Did everything line up? So her childhood friend was an upright gentleman, and she was the "domineering young lady coveting the female official's beloved"? Yuanbao was very unhappy. This county princess was in the prime of her youth. Why would she need to fight someone for a husband?! She tentatively brought up the marriage their families had joked about, but he brushed it aside with a cool remark. She tried to hook her finger around his, but he said it was improper. Yuanbao understood. The female official had also read that illustrated story. The more she thought about it, the more she felt she was special. Could that lord like her too, and not want to marry the county princess? Yu Chengwei was disciplined, courteous, and strict about following the rules. His marriage, too, would be arranged by his parents and matchmakers. He was busy with his career when one day he noticed that the young county princess had stopped coming to see him. She no longer invited him out for Qixi or Mid-Autumn Festival, no longer smiled at him, and now had a young general by her side. She even wanted to join the crowds hoping to catch a newly graduated scholar as a husband. Yu Chengwei was displeased. He went to hurry his mother along: since the marriage had been decided, they should bring her into the family soon. Madam Yu looked astonished. "Didn't you two fail to take a liking to each other? Our families don't need an in-law connection to maintain their friendship. I can take her as my goddaughter instead. There's no need to force it." Yu Chengwei had no idea where things had gone wrong. The woman he had already considered his future wife was about to become his younger sister. For the first time in his life, he did something a gentleman would find disgraceful: he disrupted his mother's ceremony to take her as a goddaughter and cornered Yuanbao by the rockery. 1. This is not about transmigrating into a book! The young county princess and the female official have both read the illustrated story. Their roles in it happen to match their own lives, and they both believe it, but the plot will not follow the story. 2. The male lead has never read the story and knows nothing about it. He's a late bloomer, and by the time he realizes something is wrong, he's almost lost his wife. Haha! This isn't a groveling romance, it's a sweet little love story! Theme: Success depends on people.