Climbing the Social Ladder (Female-Dominated)

Zhou Er is notorious in Qingshui Village for being impossible to deal with. Her nickname is Zhou the Mule, because she's as stubborn as one. The village chief's second daughter is a country bumpkin, born and raised in the village. When she falls for the county magistrate's handsome son, she swears she'll die if she can't marry him. She fakes a suicide by jumping into the Qingshui River, but ends up swallowing water and forgetting a lot of things. Her mother is overjoyed and takes the opportunity to arrange a marriage for her to Li Ergou, a strong man from the village who can work the fields and has skin tanned dark by the sun. Zhou Er feels something is wrong. On the night before the wedding, she remembers her first love and immediately runs away, heading to the county seat to chase after him. She hears that the county magistrate's son likes educated people, so she goes from being unable to read a single character to passing the xiucai examination. There are plenty of xiucai, and she wouldn't normally have stood a chance. But the county magistrate's family falls on hard times, and the magistrate's son, under a cloud of disgrace, marries down into her family. She ends up getting lucky. With their positions reversed, the once aloof beauty has to lower himself and act sweet to secure his place in the Zhou family. But before he can fully win over his wife's heart, Zhou Er rises through the ranks and attracts noble-family scholars, royal princes, and generals' sons… She has so many rivals! Can a mere county magistrate's son really hold on to his position as her primary husband? Reader's Guide: 1. Female-dominant society, men can give birth, BG. 2. The heroine grows from a rough country girl into a rising court official, but her heart remains as lovely as a flower. 3. She's called Zhou Er at first, but after entering the capital, a noble will grant her a refined name. Theme: Hard work can change your fate