Meng Sangyu was the most carefree young woman in Dianziwan, with a bright future as the emperor's illegitimate daughter.
Yet in the eyes of the entire village, she was the most ill-fated person of all.
All because she had been crazy since childhood, and was also a mute.
They said her "father" died when she was young, and her "mother" remarried when she was eight.
Even the fiancé she got at twelve was a sickly man who wasn't long for this world.
Fortunately, the sickly man made a full recovery when Meng Sangyu was sixteen.
Everyone in the village thought the mute girl's good days were finally about to begin.
But...
Murders kept happening in Dianziwan.
Meng Sangyu, with her incredible strength, ended up behind bars.
(How do you go from watching the drama to becoming a suspect yourself?)
The ghost city west of town was full of danger.
Meng Sangyu ended up as the ghosts' honored guest.
(How are ghosts this rich? Hand it over!)
The villages of Yidu were holding elections for their village chiefs.
How did Meng Sangyu, a woman, end up being shoved into the role too?!
(The notice never said a woman couldn't be village chief! Whoever tries to stop me, I'll strangle them!)
Through each and every dangerous incident, all the villagers noticed one figure they just couldn't escape.
Di Feiwan, known as "Fourth Young Master."
He was the Crown Prince's study companion, the Empress's nephew, and the young man most favored by Emperor Shunqing.
On the Crown Prince's orders, he came to Dianziwan to investigate a case from sixteen years ago, when a royal heir was murdered in the palace.
The fugitive slave Meng Sangyu was the perfect lead in the case.
So Fourth Young Master got her thrown in prison.
Only... why did he sneak into her cell every night to stuff her with giant pork shanks?
He dragged her into the ghost city to force a confession.
Only... why did the long-dead ghost want to become sworn brothers with her?!
With the wedding date approaching, the pampered Fourth Young Master decided to take matters into his own hands.
After all, women who served as village chiefs couldn't marry for five years.
As for five years later...
What?!
No need to wait five years. The very first thing Village Chief Meng does after making it to the top is dump her sweetheart?!
One evening...
The female prince, dressed in a five-clawed python robe, produced an object and eyed it with disdain. "You're twenty-one this year. That's a bit old. I'm breaking off our engagement!"
Fourth Young Master: ...
Fourth Young Master: ???
Boohoo! He won't! He won't do it!
The court officials, worn down to nothing by all the trouble: We won't either! We don't want to!
Short scene 1:
Meng Sangyu had always loved listening to gossip under the old neck tree at the village entrance, especially lately, when the story of the village's most unfortunate person came up so often.
Until one day, she learned that the unlucky person had the same name as her and lived at the other end of the village.
Meng Sangyu: ???
Meng Sangyu: ...
Meng Sangyu: You think you can bully me because mutes can't talk, huh!
Short scene 2:
Di Feiwan: I concealed my identity, thought through every detail, and made a flawless plan!
Meng Sangyu (hard of hearing JPG): What? What? It won't hold water?
Di Feiwan: ...
Short scene 3:
Before they recognized each other
Emperor: I wonder how my illegitimate daughter is doing, hidden away in the mountains.
Ministers: Your Majesty! Where did you get an illegitimate daughter?!
Emperor: ...
After they recognized each other
Ministers: Your Majesty! Please control your illegitimate daughter! We can't take this anymore!
Emperor: ...Nonsense. Where would I get an illegitimate daughter?
A few friendly notes:
1. This is purely a historical romance, with no ghosts or fantasy elements.
2. The female lead is eccentric and dramatic, but sweet-tongued. The male lead is tsundere and sharp-tongued, but genuinely domestic.
3. It goes against the usual tropes and gets a bit melodramatic later on.
4. The female lead is sick from the start (she was born with an illness), and of course her whole family is sick too (not really). Hahaha.
5. The female lead is a little troublemaker, and the story opens with a shock (well, a small one).
Theme: After enduring hardship, live toward the light and believe that every trial will make you stronger
