After Saving the Obsessed Chancellor, I Faked My Death [Transmigrate into a Book]

[Next up: Marrying a Hardy Branch] [How to Deal with Being Hounded by a Gloomy Big Shot], advance notices are at the very bottom. The following is the synopsis. Song Zhenyu transmigrated into a book, becoming a concubine brought in to bring good fortune to a sickly earl. A few days later, the earl passed away, turning a wedding into a funeral and leaving his new bride a widow in all but name. The Earl of Guiyi's household fell from grace overnight, and its internal strife was fiercer than a palace drama. Song Zhenyu had only two choices: give herself to the treacherous Second Master, or stop the young villainous heir from being forcibly castrated and raise him into a wise minister. Without hesitation, Song Zhenyu braved a blizzard and rushed into the torture chamber. She blocked the seal-holder's blade and pulled the frail little villain into her arms. "Don't be afraid. I'll protect you from now on. No one will lay a hand on you. A son of the Pei family must live with his head held high!" - Everyone in Chang'an knew the Earl of Guiyi's household had a formidable woman at its head. Within a year, she raised the heir into the top-ranked candidate in the imperial examinations. Within two years, he was appointed Tong Pingzhangshi, rising to the highest post in the court, where civil and military officials bowed before him. Later, everyone in town said the formidable woman was fierce-tempered and ugly as a demon. She took the palace seal-holder's embroidered spring blade and sent the cunning Second Master to the imperial prison. Everyone in the Pei family respected her as their matriarch. - Song Zhenyu had finally helped the young villain rise to become a renowned minister. But she knew that when the lips are gone, the teeth grow cold. In front of her, the young villain was a meek, docile lamb; against his enemies, he was a bloodthirsty lone wolf. The earl's household could not escape impeachment, and as a woman of the Pei family, she was bound to meet a grim end. Song Zhenyu: Time to make a run for it. Song Zhenyu faked her death by falling into a river, took on another secret identity, and traveled from country to country, living a carefree life. She was skilled at teaching, and eventually opened schools in the southern frontier to enlighten the people. Little did she know that thousands of miles away in Chang'an, the red-robed minister, whom countless noble ladies yearned for, knelt in solitude before the couch where his beloved had once reclined. He breathed in the lingering fragrance of her beauty, his eyes filled with desolation, as violent as a demon and as wretched as a stray dog. Another year, another spring snowfall. Several of Song Zhenyu's students passed the imperial examinations and invited her to Chang'an to celebrate. At the banquet, one of them eagerly introduced her to a red-robed minister: "My lord, this is my teacher. I owe my success in this examination to her!" The moment she looked up, Song Zhenyu saw the great villain gazing at her like a ravenous beast. Song Zhenyu felt she had walked straight into a wolf's den. He had planned every step, leaving her no way to retreat. By day, he was dignified and aloof, properly addressing her as "Lady Yu." By night, consumed by obsession, he dragged her down into the depths with him. [The Male Lead's Story] Pei Chengling had a harsh childhood. His relatives coveted his position as heir, murdered his parents, and forced him into the eunuch palace. He endured every humiliation, grinding his teeth until they were soaked in blood, and swore to slaughter the entire Earl's household once he had power. Except for his stepmother, who warmed him with her embrace when he was at his lowest, no one stayed by his side. From an insignificant nobody to the chancellor of the empire, she weathered every storm with him. Pei Chengling harbored an impossible, greedy desire and planned to make their relationship official and marry her once he became chancellor. But to his surprise, his stepmother faked her death. For the first time in his life, the usually calculating Pei Chengling experienced the agony of a thousand ants devouring his heart. In the eyes of the world, an unbridgeable gulf lay between them. But he was an irredeemably ambitious wolf, and though she had raised him through hardship into a chancellor, he wanted only to defy the whole world and claim her completely. Couple: A dark, obsessive, gloomy villainous heir, full of schemes and possessive desire x A beautiful, bold stepmother who acts spoiled, gets what she wants, and runs after breaking his heart Reading Guide: [1] An alternate-history Northern Song. The leads are not blood-related. Happy ending, she is his one and only, one-on-one romance. [2] New chapters every day at 12:00 noon. [3] Fake-death tale, redemption, rekindled love, powerful partnership, forced possession... A jumble of every kind of melodrama. [4] The heroine's career arc centers on correcting the hero's outlook and helping him rise to the highest ranks. The characters' values are not the author's values. Advance Notice 1: Marrying a Hardy Branch Jiang Wanji was a princess of the Great Zhang dynasty. Everyone knew she had a powerful, sinister elder brother. Ever since he ascended the throne, every minister who tried to find her a suitable husband was either demoted, exiled, or executed. The emperor's majesty kept the entire court trembling in silence. Jiang Wanji was breathtakingly beautiful, yet innocent, sheltered, and ignorant of love. When she came of age, her elder brother built her a palace with gold-brick walls. His cool lips brushed her ear as he murmured, "From this day forth, you are my empress." Jiang Wanji agreed in a daze, never realizing that once she went inside, she would not come out again until nine years later. The emperor died of illness, leaving an edict that named the empress as the sole consort to be buried with him. Jiang Wanji thought she would see the life she and her elder brother had shared before she died. But as the flames engulfed her palace robes, the figure that appeared before her was Shen Zhongqi, the General of Dingyuan. The man was stern and rugged, clad in golden armor. He had fought in countless battles and won tremendous military honors before even reaching the age of twenty. One winter, while traveling south to Jiangnan for the ancestral rites, their boat was ambushed by rebels. Jiang Wanji was pushed into the freezing sea. With her life hanging by a thread, Shen Zhongqi carried her on his back and swam for miles without a word. As she drifted toward unconsciousness, he bit open a wine gourd and gave her a mouthful of strong liquor. When she choked, he lowered his eyes and, after a long silence, forced out a stern, hoarse apology: "This humble official has offended you." That night, a forbidden butterfly beat its wings at the wrong time, stirring a storm in her heart. Sadly, she never got to see Shen Zhongqi again before entering her gilded cage. Later, all she received was the news that he had died on the battlefield. Jiang Wanji had regretted it countless times over the years. Back when her father was alive and her elder brother had yet to gain power, the General of Dingyuan had been framed and sent to Lingnan. At the lowest, most disheartened point in his life, she had not chosen to leave everything behind and go with him. Reborn, Jiang Wanji returned to the age of fifteen. Couple: A sweet, soft, pampered, delicate young princess x A rugged, fierce, loyal general Reading Guide: [1] Mutual pining, choosing each other, saving each other, happy ending, one-on-one romance. [2] The heroine and her elder brother are not related by blood. Her elder brother is domineering and unwell, and their marriage in the previous life was in name only. [3] An alternate-history Northern Song. Please do not nitpick the history. Advance Notice 2: How to Deal with Being Hounded by a Gloomy Big Shot! [1] Zhao Leli was the legitimate daughter of the Duke of Protecting the State's household. With a hibiscus face, willow-leaf brows, and a captivating beauty, she was widely considered the most stunning woman in Gusu. The day she first met him was the day she married into the Eastern Palace. Beneath the twin towers, a man in black robes with a red sash walked toward her across a field of corpses, an embroidered blade dripping with blood in his hand. His name was Xie Guizhang. He had murdered countless people and was born a wicked creature. Everyone in Great Zhang lived in fear of him. Everyone believed that with Xie Guizhang's cruel, violent methods, the crown princess could never survive after being abducted. They did not know that on the night after he took her, he held her in front of him, twirling the hair by her temple. His hoarse voice was bewitching as he said: "A Li, you looked at that crown prince one time too many today. Should I gouge out both his eyes tomorrow?" [2] Zhao Leli had once been the crown princess, envied and admired by all. Then the tide turned, and she became Xie the Mad Dog's captive. No matter how far she ran, he caught her and dragged her back every time. She cried and fought, and he forced her to cry even harder. With nowhere left to run, Zhao Leli began to play along and fawn over him in hopes of staying alive, becoming the very picture of thoughtfulness. She acted so convincingly that Xie Guizhang believed she had been completely tamed. Later, the crown prince led troops to rescue her, and Xie Guizhang was thrown into the imperial dungeon. His flesh was torn and his body covered in blood, yet he smiled gently, his eyes full of desire for her. "A Li, be crueler." [3] The crown prince colluded with the enemy, and the rebels' blades were about to fall on Zhao Leli when Xie Guizhang fought his way out of the dungeon. One moment, he cut off the rebels' heads and left the crown prince's corpse exposed at the city gates. The next, his eyes bloodshot, he pulled her tightly into his arms in the firelight and buried his face against her neck. His voice brimmed with desperate longing and grievance: "A Li, don't go. Don't leave me alone again..." -- Xie Guizhang spent twenty-three years clawing his way through the abyss. Rebellion was his creed, and he was cold and gloomy. The world despised him, but Zhao Leli lifted him out of the darkness. He swore to offer her the finest things in the world, pave her path with his shattered bones, bow to her, and protect her so that not a strand of her hair would turn gray. Couple: A big shot who destroys the world for everyone else but is a gentle, lovesick madman in private, a sweet-faced psychopath x A frail, beautiful woman who looks pitiful to others but acts spoiled and gets what she wants in private Theme: Whether the world is cruel or kind, we should keep a light in our hearts