Instead of Being Cannon Fodder, I'll Be an Imperial Merchant

Also known as: This Wife Isn't Anything Like the Story Said

The Merchant Emperor is a wish-fulfillment harem novel about a dragon-pride protagonist's rise through business. Gu Xingzhi is terribly unlucky: he isn't the protagonist, but the real Second Young Master Gu, whose identity was switched with the dragon-pride protagonist's.

The moment the Second Young Master Gu was born, he was switched with the male lead, who was being hunted, and grew up elsewhere. At eighteen, he fell in love with a man who became his wife, only for that man to turn out to be one of the dragon-pride protagonist's harem members. Later, his family took him back, only to use him as a stepping stone for the protagonist, allowing the latter to return openly to his own, more powerful family. Once they had used him up, they gave him the beloved he loathed for loving the dragon-pride protagonist as compensation, making the pair a resentful couple. The original owner eventually fell ill from depression and died young.

What a ridiculous, laughable life.

Now Gu Xingzhi has transmigrated into the original owner's body at eighteen, just after being separated from the family. His unscrupulous uncle, who had seized the property of his adoptive parents, brings a handsome amnesiac young man before him.

"Xingzhi, this is your wife. Take good care of each other from now on."

Gu Xingzhi: Heh.

If he had transmigrated into an imperial exam novel, Gu Xingzhi might not have done well in the exams. But in a business novel, starting from nothing had always come naturally to him.

Starting as a small-time peddler, Gu Xingzhi climbs step by step: the richest man in his village, merchant leader of Chengde City, branch president of the Lanzhou Merchant Association, president of the Jinzhou Prefectural Association, president of the Daxia Merchant Association's headquarters, and finally, the imperial merchant!

Years later, the Second Young Master abandoned by the Gu family returns with a vengeance, not to reclaim his place in the family, but to trample the Gu clan's century-old plaque underfoot.

Extra Scene:

Gu Xingzhi thought it was strange.

According to the story, the man should have been a cold, haughty, sensitive and introspective beauty, like a flower on a high mountain. So how had he turned into a sunny, vibrant young man after being sent to Gu Xingzhi? He could sleep and eat, loved looking good and wanted pretty clothes, and got upset if Gu Xingzhi said anything to him.

What on earth was wrong?

Xie Langyu, with a rose in his mouth: With a wife like me, what time are you coming home?

Gu Xingzhi: ...Home is wherever I am.

Note: The story mainly follows the career plot, with romance as a secondary focus. It is set in a wholly fictional world where merchants enjoy high status, and follows the path of business.

The love interest is changed. The person sent to the top is someone else.

[Outwardly gentle but inwardly distant career-focused top x arrogant to everyone else, but considerate and obedient to the top, young master bottom]

Also known as: The career-driven male lead from Qidian x his beautiful romance-novel wife from Jinjiang

Reading Guide:

1. They dote on each other, with a slight preference for the top. Not recommended for readers with extreme top- or bottom-focused preferences. See the author's profile for the mutual-virginity details. If that bothers you, don't read.

2. Most of the settings are original and fictional, and won't stand up to close scrutiny. Read for fun, don't grill the author. The author is illiterate and knows very little, so everything is made up QvQ

3. There will be idiotic characters of any gender. Feel free to criticize the characters, but please don't attack the author. I'm begging you.

Enjoy reading~

Theme: Flip the board and rise to the top.