Scheming for the Imperial Throne

For generations, the Ying family guarded the northern frontier, earning brilliant military victories and immense distinction.

When Ying Shutong, the young lady of the Ying family, had grown up in the north to the age of fourteen, her father sent her back to the capital, placing a crucial piece in the already treacherous struggle for the throne.

She turned away from the ardent attention of the other princes and chose Xiao Qi instead, the gloomy, taciturn man ignored by everyone in the corner of a palace banquet.

"Were you bullied? I'll protect you from now on."

She stood beside Xiao Qi for years. Thinking him naturally cold, she was delighted whenever he occasionally showed her a little tenderness.

It wasn't until they took the capital that she finally understood: Xiao Qi knew how to love. He simply didn't love her. As she lay gravely wounded, he hurried past her and lifted another woman into his arms.

The horse that had been by her side for years was killed because it startled Song Yihe.

The medicine she refined with her own heart's blood to save her son was drunk by Song Yihe as a health tonic.

The generations of military service and achievement earned by the Ying family had all become stepping stones for the Song family to rise to power.

As Empress Ying, she was illiterate, uncouth, and jealous. She endured day after day in the deep palace, watching that loving couple devote themselves to each other.

On the day she was near death, it was Gu Zhenyi, a man with whom she had never had any dealings, who handed her the reins so she could ride a horse one last time.

Reborn at the age of sixteen, she saw Xiao Qi again and looked into his icy eyes. Ying Shutong was truly sick of him.

She plotted at every turn, wielding both the pen and the sword, and slowly ground Xiao Qi and Song Yihe into the dirt. Now and then, she also paid attention to Gu Shangqing, who had been appearing at her side ever since she broke off their engagement, and who was rather different from the aloof man she remembered.

"Gu Zhenyi, why did you hand me the reins that day?"

A free-spirited, bold daughter of a military family x an aristocratic young master who only pretends to be aloof, but is actually a scheming fox

There's a regretful ex chasing after her (and failing), and a second male lead who takes the place of the first (very successfully).

Below is a preview of My Mom's Girl: The Princess Rises

The Great Yong princess Xie Zhaoyuan has always been haunted by one thing: the common girl Meng Yuran.

The icy Song Jinhuai, whom Xie Zhaoyuan had loved for years, fell for Meng Yuran the moment he saw her.

The important court officials who had always glared at the princess treated Meng Yuran like their own daughter.

The people of Jijing, who had criticized the princess for being spoiled and willful, revered Meng Yuran as a goddess.

Xie Zhaoyuan refused to accept it, and the result was a miserable death.

Only after arriving in the underworld did Xie Zhaoyuan learn that she was merely a supporting character in a story, a minor sacrificial pawn meant to highlight the protagonists and bring them closer together.

The underworld's immortals told her that if she wanted to live a good life, she should stay away from the protagonists.

Xie Zhaoyuan took this to heart. After being reborn, she became Empress Yan's good little mama's girl, listened to her mother, gave up on Song Jinhuai, and decided to be a good princess.

Most importantly, she would marry Huan You, the man her mother approved of.

Young Lord Huan was born to wealth and splendor, brilliant as the sun. He rode through the capital in fine clothes, and girls tossed flowers his way wherever he went.

One day, he noticed that the little princess's gaze had shifted from his friend to him.

Well, that's rather captivating.

By the time the two of them had gone from blushing, tentative attempts to hold hands to openly making out at the city gate, Xie Zhaoyuan realized in horror:

Meng Yuran was bullying her even worse than she had in her previous life!

She anxiously thought back over everything that had happened, her face turning deathly pale.

Could Huan You be the male protagonist paired with Meng Yuran in that story?!

Xie Zhaoyuan sobbed in Huan You's arms, nearly choking on her tears. "I can't do this. I can't beat her. She's the female lead!"

Huan You gently patted her in his arms. "She can't take me away. She can't."

Wiping away her tears, Xie Zhaoyuan tremblingly squared off against the leading lady, Meng Yuran.

From Jijing to the frontier, from one person's life to the safety of half a city; plotting for country and love, fighting to survive and find a way out. Schemes and countermeasures intertwine as courage and cowardice struggle against each other.

The innocent, naive princess of years past never imagined that she could reach such a place.

"Meng Yuran, I used to be afraid of you. But I don't know when it happened: I don't see you in my eyes anymore."

A growth-oriented little princess who died miserably in her previous life and only wants to be a good mama's girl this time, timid but not entirely a coward x a proud young lord who's gentle and flamboyant, a black-hearted schemer beneath his white-cut-black exterior, whose possessiveness is all devoted to stopping anyone from separating him from his wife

Theme: When you find yourself in darkness, the hope you never give up on can become a light