The Heir's Wife Climbs to the Top Through Scandals

[Vivid, sharp-tongued, and very much a hypocritical young lady vs. an arrogant heir who can never win an argument with her]

Song Yunshu, a corporate drone just starting her career, tragically dies after working overtime for several days straight. By an unexpected twist, she transmigrates into the body of the only legitimate daughter of the prime minister's household in the Great Wei dynasty.

As a noble young lady from a powerful family, Song Yunshu lives like a fish in water. Today, she meets her friends for tea and a play; tomorrow, she invites a handsome young man to enjoy the spring blossoms; the day after, they all join forces to take down a shameless homewrecker.

What a delightful life.

Her father is a high-ranking court official, second only to the emperor and above everyone else. Her mother was born into the Zhang family, a centuries-old noble clan. The Crown Prince is her own cousin, and even the emperor's endlessly favored Noble Consort is someone she calls Aunt.

In other words, as long as her father doesn't do anything that gets the whole family killed, she can do whatever she likes throughout the capital.

One day, she happily arranges a shopping trip with her friends. But when she returns home, she finds that the sky has fallen.

*

Emperor Chongzhen has ruled for twenty years, with little to show for it.

He has no interest in literature or martial arts, nor is he fond of beautiful women.

He does, however, adore playing matchmaker. Every year, he sets himself a personal KPI. Last year, he brought together two pairs of star-crossed lovers. This year, he plans to do even better.

That morning, after an admonishing official gives him a headache at court, Emperor Chongzhen returns from the session and promptly arranges marriages for three promising young men in the capital.

As luck would have it, Song Yunshu is one half of one of the couples.

Her betrothed and Miss Song have always disliked each other at first sight. Neither can stand the other.

The whole capital watches the bickering pair produce one farce after another, and everyone wonders when they'll get divorced.

No one expects that one day, a forcibly picked melon will turn out to be sweet.

Insanely sweet!!!

Mini-scene 1:

"Wait, Eunuch Wang, who did you just say I'm supposed to marry?"

The old eunuch who had delivered the decree flicked his whisk and leaned close to Song Yunshu's ear. "His Majesty heard that Miss Song is deeply devoted to the heir of the Duke of Dingguo, so he has graciously granted your wish."

"..."

Song Yunshu: Your Majesty, thank you so very much! (gritting her teeth!)

Mini-scene 2:

Song Yunshu (o(╥﹏╥)o): Waaah, who the hell started that rumor? Have they no shame? I don't even know which way the Duke of Dingguo's house faces, and I won't accept any rumors about me and his son...

Gu Yan: Heh. Miss Song, perhaps you should think carefully about who this person is!

The blurb was screenshotted and saved on Weibo on 2023/7/20, then revised on 2023/8/21.

Content warnings:

1. The heroine is sharp-tongued and very much a hypocrite.

2. Romance-focused, ensemble cast, one true pairing, happy ending.

3. The setting is wildly ahistorical and cannot withstand scrutiny. The author's inventions serve the plot, so please don't take them too seriously.

4. Enjoy the story, enjoy life. A bow, and thank you!

"The Substitute Bride" (Transmigration into a Book)

Wan Li stayed up all night reading a highly rated serialized novel on a certain website, "The Emperor's Sister-in-Law as His Wife."

In the book, the story featured an uncle and his sister-in-law, injury-induced amnesia, a substitute, forced love... It had every trope imaginable. Wan Li was so hooked that she stayed up all night and read over a hundred chapters.

The refined, brilliant male lead had a disposable ex-wife. In the latest chapter, the author revealed that the ex-wife and the male lead had actually lived as husband and wife for six months after he lost his memories. He only divorced her after regaining them.

Many readers couldn't accept this, feeling that their untouchable male lead had been tainted.

Haters chased the author across the internet with abuse. The author broke down, couldn't be bothered to write the ending, and announced that they were leaving the internet and dropping the story.

When Wan Li woke up the next day and learned what had happened, she felt as if the sky had fallen. She cursed for ages, lamenting that she had gotten hooked on such a story and that it had given her a heart attack. Then she skipped breakfast and went right back to sleep.

When she opened her eyes again, she was shocked to find that the world had changed. She had transmigrated into the book.

But Wan Li hadn't transmigrated into the beautiful, delicate, and beloved imperial sister-in-law, nor into the male lead's disposable ex-wife.

Instead, she had become the cousin of Wan Ning, the male lead's disposable ex-wife. She was an insignificant character without a single line of dialogue, who was abducted and taken as a concubine for her beauty, then died horribly in a single night.

Wan Li transmigrated at just the right moment: her cousin Wan Ning had just rescued the male lead, the two had secretly pledged themselves to each other, and Wan Ning was about to break off her engagement.

*

Xu Jianqing was refined and handsome, with an exceptionally gentle and humble temperament. He had learned medicine from his grandfather since childhood, and his superb medical skills meant his patients were almost always cured as soon as they took his medicine.

Xu Jianqing was the dream man of countless young women in Qingsang Town.

The younger generation of the Xu and Wan families had been betrothed since childhood. They would marry when the time was right. But with his grandfather seriously ill, Xu Jianqing personally brought a matchmaker to the Wan residence, hoping to marry his fiancée as soon as possible.

Then the Xu family suddenly came to discuss the wedding date.

Wan Ning refused to marry him under any circumstances. As both families reached an impasse, the matchmaker suggested finding another bride.

That bride became Wan Li, from the second branch of the Wan family.

Wan Li had been calling Xu Jianqing "brother-in-law" in private for five or six years, and he had always answered to it.

She thought, How could I marry my own brother-in-law?

Unexpectedly, Xu Jianqing agreed.

And so, in a daze, Wan Li took her cousin's place and married Xu Jianqing, the third male lead in the whole book who left readers with the most regrets, her brother-in-law...

Reading guide:

1. Two couples: cheerful, orphaned young woman vs. gentle male doctor (brother-in-law romance) // fiery, disposable first wife vs. amnesiac prince (substitute trope, wife-chasing crematorium, original male lead goes mad with love).

2. Both are marriage-first, love-later; one true pairing, happy ending; romance and plot move forward side by side.

3. The surname Wan is real. The author didn't make it up.

4. Only after the rain can one see Mount Min and Emei's steepness; only after the frost does the wind and moon reveal their clarity. (Xu Jianqing)

Theme: Love deepens through day after day of companionship