Even in a Bad Marriage, I Must Play the Mistress of the House

[A reborn heroine who is wealthy and wants power, not love, and keeps her feelings hidden VS a male lead who seems refined and aloof but is miserly to the bone and greedy for money]

On Shang Tangyu's wedding night, her husband, the marquis praised by everyone in the capital for his refined and elegant demeanor, ran off.

His canary, who lived in a separate residence, was so heartbroken that she set fire to the place she had lived for two years.

By the time the fire was put out, her husband was staring at the wreckage and the unrecognizable corpse in the courtyard. Overwhelmed with despair, he spat out a mouthful of blood.

After this happened in her previous life, Gu Liujing was an upright gentleman, but no saint. He still held some resentment toward Shang Tangyu.

Though Shang Tangyu came from a merchant family, she had never learned to bow her head, and her spine was harder than iron. As a result, the two argued whenever they met during their three years of marriage.

In the end, after she made a mistake, the retired marquis had her cast out of the marquis's residence on his son's behalf. She died after being struck by a runaway horse in the snow, and her own actions played a part in it.

Reborn, Shang Tangyu wanted to avoid the fate of her previous life. She kept her temper in check and chose to become a stand-in for Gu Liujing's canary, letting him find some comfort in his grief while she quietly built up strength to protect herself.

At first, Gu Liujing ignored her and wouldn't even look her in the eye.

Later, Gu Liujing solemnly handed her control of the marquis's household.

Just as the distance between the couple was beginning to shrink, the canary, who had faked her death and hidden away in Jiangnan, returned on Shang Tangyu's birthday.

She also returned with the revelation that she was a princess, raised in luxury despite having grown up among commoners.

Just as Shang Tangyu was fretting over the household authority she'd worked so hard to secure becoming precarious, the princess came to visit.

Her husband, who was supposedly