The Emperor's Daily Life Raising Cats

Wan Ying is the daughter of the county magistrate of Jiangling. Born into a modest household, she never imagined she would marry into the prestigious Duke of Jingguo's household in this lifetime.

She spared no effort to travel a thousand miles to the capital to marry. Others said she had married well, but who knew that behind all the splendor lay untold bitterness? Her mother-in-law treated her coldly, her sister-in-law made a spectacle of her, and her younger sister was bent on climbing over her to marry into a powerful family.

On the fifteenth night of the first lunar month, during the Lantern Festival, Wan Ying finished off a pot of leftover wine. Staggering drunkenly into a plum grove, she covered her face and wept.

Through her sobs, she suddenly saw a man standing in the snow, wrapped in a cloak.

"Whatever injustice you have suffered, tell me. I will see justice done for you."

*

Emperor Chu Ming spent his life campaigning in the east and west and keeping the court in check. He laid the foundations for a golden age and was hailed as an unparalleled wise ruler.

Yet the only thing later generations criticized this wise ruler for was his immoral private life: he disregarded natural law, human relationships, and the bond between sovereign and subject, taking a subject's wife for himself.

According to the Biographies of the Empresses and Consorts in the History of Chu: Noble Consort Mu was originally the wife of Rong, heir apparent to the Duke of Jingguo. The emperor forcibly took her into the palace and made her a consort, leaving the imperial harem in name only.

A gentle but domineering ruler VS a delicate beauty with no designs of her own

Note:

1. Neither lead is a virgin.

2. The ruler takes his subject's wife, with an age gap of 14 years. The powerful one bows his head.

3. Set in a fictional world inspired by the Ming dynasty. Please do not nitpick historical accuracy.

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Coming soon: Marrying My Nemesis. Please add it to your reading list!

In her previous life, Lu Yuan, a surrendered general from the Northern Dynasty, defected to the south and submitted a memorial to Emperor Wu, asking to marry into an aristocratic family and seeking the hand of the Xie family's legitimate daughter, Xie Lang.

Emperor Wu laughed and said, "The Wang and Xie families are too exalted for you. You come from a humble family. Why not consider a family below the Zhu and Zhang?"

The following winter, Lu Yuan led his troops from Shouyang and swept across Jiangnan, advancing straight toward Jiankang.

In the fifth month of summer, the Taicheng fell. The aristocratic clans of Jiangnan faced utter ruin, and the people of Wu were plunged into calamity. The Wang and Xie families were nearly wiped out. The great clans that had served as ministers for a century collapsed in a single day. The southern migration of the nobility was destroyed, and Jiangdong's fortunes came to an end.

Xie Lang, the spark that set it all off, was regarded by everyone as a beauty who brought disaster. First, her husband's family cast her aside. Then she was sold into a brothel, and in the end she was reduced to marrying a fisherman.

Her life was one long struggle, filled with suffering and humiliation, all because of Lu Yuan.

When they met again, she was a fisherman's wife, weather-beaten by the river and plain to look at. He was a hunted fugitive, betrayed by his men and stripped of everything.

"After all these years, General, don't you recognize an old acquaintance?"

"Who are you?"

His answer was a sharp blade driven into his heart.

After taking her revenge, Xie Lang threw herself into the river and died. Unexpectedly, when she opened her eyes again, she had returned to an earlier point in her life.

Outside the door, a matchmaker's emissary came to ask for her hand, just as in her previous life.

This time, Xie Lang made a different choice.

Amid blaring wedding music, she stepped down from the bridal sedan and crossed the brazier. In the midst of the blazing flames, she saw Lu Yuan's face, fierce with menace.

A hound of war in turbulent times VS a noble family's young lady

Theme: A happy life must be created with your own two hands.