After the Cannon-Fodder Heroine’s Mother Is Reborn

The Great Wan is about to form a marriage alliance with the Eastern Wa, and has chosen Gu Yaoji, daughter of the Marquis of Dongshui. Gu Yaoji does not want to be married off to the Eastern Wa, so she begs her parents for help. Their hearts soften, and they spend a fortune to adopt a girl from outside the family to take her place in the distant marriage. At first, everything goes smoothly. But later, Gu Yaoji realizes that the story seems to be slipping out of her control. Her father dotes on her adoptive sister more. Her fiancé praises the girl's selfless devotion, and her older brother keeps showering her with treasures. They all take it for granted that she deserves their favor because she is about to sacrifice herself for all of Dongshui, so Gu Yaoji is expected to give way. Gu Yaoji is never convinced, but she keeps yielding because she feels indebted to the other girl. It is only when her adoptive sister frames her and ruins her reputation, driving her to her death, that the girl finally smiles and tells her that it was all part of her plan. “You really thought I’d take your place in the marriage?” she says with a smile. “No. I’m staying here to be the real princess, and everyone will abandon you.” From the very beginning, the adoptive sister had planned to replace her. Only then does Gu Yaoji understand that she is merely a cannon-fodder supporting character, a stepping stone for her adoptive sister. She is meant to offer up her flesh and blood to fulfill the other girl’s every wish. Her identity, status, fiancé, and father all belong to her adoptive sister. Everyone takes it for granted that they should abandon Gu Yaoji and love someone else. Even the one person who loves her, her mother, works herself to the bone for her and dies coughing up blood. That is her wretched life. Until one day, Gu Yaoji’s birth mother is reborn. A hard-hearted, grudge-holding, growing-up Yaoji darling × a mean-spirited, snarky man who absolutely loves gossip Wicked wife × resentful husband Note: This is an ensemble story with lots of characters, full of household and palace intrigue and melodrama. Both generations of mother and daughter have their own romantic pairings, and receive roughly equal focus. Cover art thanks to: Qi Jiuzi Recommending a friend’s novel: Two Hearts as One by San Xiangyue [Cold-faced, adorable little destroyer god × blind puppeteer saint] A love steeped in hatred, a saint’s private feelings, and mutual salvation. A powerful couple: the more they love, the more they hate; the more they hate, the sweeter it gets. Hua Wuhui first met Xie Jingci amid the flames that consumed her family. He was her enemy. With white silk covering his eyes, blood dripped from his fingertips among countless threads that shimmered like flowing light. He looked like a demon from hell. “Found you.” The man heard her breathing and turned around. The last thread pierced her heart. . Hua Wuhui thought she had died. When she woke again, threads bound her arms and legs. She had become his puppet, and his plaything. He controlled every move she made, from getting dressed and walking to breathing. She tried to escape, only to discover that a thread always connected them. He would not let her go. So she decided to kill him. She had to kill him. “Fine.” Beneath the white silk, his lips curved into a delighted smile. He began teaching her magic, indulging her repeated attempts to assassinate him. Each time she failed, he punished her by making her relive, again and again, the memory of her family’s death. “Hatred is what keeps you alive.” The man controlled the threads and spoke gently. . Hua Wuhui hated him with all her heart. She would kill him. . Xie Jingci was the strongest puppeteer on the Cangzhou Continent. Pure as ice and jade, blind yet clear-sighted, he spent his life searching for the seed of chaos destined to be reborn as the Evil God. Until one day, he received a plea for help from the Hua family of Jiangzhou: the seed of chaos had awakened inside their youngest daughter. He arrived just before the Evil God fully awoke and found her unconscious amid the flames. To suppress the force that could destroy the world, he had no choice but to use the last thread of a puppeteer: Two Hearts as One. With Two Hearts as One, from then on he would feel her hatred a thousandfold and share her pain ten thousandfold. But he would remain forever deaf to her love and joy. @Little scene: Another assassination attempt failed, and threads shimmering like flowing light bound her neck. With a sigh, he traced the tears brought on by her suffocation with his fingertips. “Ahui, call me Master.” Red-eyed, she tried to turn away and bit through the back of his hand. Blood trickled down. “...You don’t like that?” He tilted his head, earnestly savoring her suffocation and hatred. His bloodied knuckles pressed inward, indulgently prying her teeth apart. “Then call me Father.” 1. One-on-one romance, love steeped in hatred, a saint’s private feelings. The leads are instinctively drawn to each other. Happy ending. 2. The only way to stop the Evil God from awakening is to keep her from realizing that she is the Evil God. 3. The male lead is blind, powerful, and gentle, until he has no choice but to make her hate him. 4. He is her enemy, her teacher, and her secret lover. He cannot see her or feel her love. He ought to push her away, but cannot help drawing close to her, testing the boundaries of coercive love. [Content notes] 5. The heroine is no innocent flower, and she is no good person. She is difficult and willful. 6. There is occasional unintentional male-lead suffering and melodrama, but the author is a good person. This is simply the author’s personal taste, so proceed with caution. @Flowers never fade, the moon never wanes. Two hearts as one. From “Song of Sincere Feelings” The heroine’s name is inspired by the first two lines, hence Wuhui. @Beauty leaves the mirror, flowers leave the tree. Nothing in this world is harder to keep. From “Butterflies in Love with Flowers” Xie Jingci’s name is taken from this poem. The poem titles are prophetic. Theme: In love, people should be honest and respectful toward each other, and never use power to bully one another.