Eighteen Ways to Get the Empress to Turn Over a New Leaf

Synopsis:

Lan Jinghuai is a brilliant madwoman. She did plenty of outrageous things at a young age, and ended up spending several years in a psychiatric hospital. After getting out, she left her hometown and became a free-spirited traveler, roaming far and wide.

Unfortunately, perhaps the heavens couldn't stand seeing her enjoy such freedom. She had an accident while bungee jumping for thrills and fell to her death.

When she opened her eyes again, she was a lonely ghost. A strange entity called the System shoved her into the body of an empress in an unknown dynasty. Her only mission was to change the destined death of Qin Shuzhi, the world's corrupted child of fortune, by trying to redeem her.

The funny thing was, the one responsible for Qin Shuzhi's corruption was the very person whose body Lan Jinghuai had transmigrated into.

The original owner was an empress, and so was Qin Shuzhi. But Qin Shuzhi had barely sat on the throne before the original owner led an army against her. Her country was destroyed, her family perished, and she became a prisoner, subjected to every kind of abuse and torment.

Then Qin Shuzhi was reborn...

Lan Jinghuai wearily said, "Redeem her, my ass. Why not just lie flat and wait for Qin Shuzhi to take her revenge?"

Once she'd had her revenge, her resentment would fade, and the world would be at peace.

The System had no idea how to argue with that: ...

Then it saw this:

Host smiled and thanked Qin Shuzhi after she stabbed her. √

Host forced Qin Shuzhi to cook for her, decided it tasted awful after one bite, then shoved the rest into Qin Shuzhi's mouth. √

Host made Qin Shuzhi carry her around the garden, only to be dropped on the ground by the seemingly frail woman. √

The poor System had already failed several times. With just one last chance left, it watched a series of unbelievably lazy, carefree stunts. Its heart rate shot up to 180, and it was ready to self-destruct.

And yet...this unconventional Host really did manage to bring Qin Shuzhi's corruption level down, little by little.

Later, Qin Shuzhi joined forces with the old faction to seize Lan Jinghuai's throne and avenge her fallen country. Their positions completely reversed overnight, and Lan Jinghuai became the prisoner.

Lan Jinghuai sat in a chair, smiling as she waited for Qin Shuzhi's revenge. Instead, a woman with all the gloom dispelled from her face came to her, and kissed her with a hunger that bordered on biting.

* A vindictive, wicked younger woman x a gentle by nature, self-repressing older woman

* A low-magic cultivation world, not a conventional ancient setting.

Core theme: Human nature is hard to change, but one's nature can be restrained.