The Young Madam [Matriarchy]

The first time Shen Yuanrou saw Pei Ji, he was still swaddled in his blankets. No matter how much she disliked children, she couldn't resist her friend's enthusiasm and became the baby boy's godmother. After more than a decade navigating the political arena, she next heard news of the Pei family thirteen years later. The Peis were no longer all-powerful, and Xuzhou had changed beyond recognition. That year, however, a young man claiming to be her godson came to call at her residence. The boy had a handsome, stubborn face. His eyes, so like her friend's, made her feel as if she had returned to a time ten years past. “Make yourself at home,” Shen Yuanrou said, lifting her lashes as she studied the slender young man before her. Then she added, “I'll find you a good marriage.” Pei Ji was afraid of her. She put down rebels and executed treacherous officials; power had left its mark on her, and she would brook no defiance. But he had nowhere else to turn, and his godmother had said she would find him a good match. Pei Ji did not want to live at someone else's mercy. At first, he looked forward to the marriage she would arrange. But as time passed, that thought gradually took on a different meaning: he wanted to stay by her side. Female lead, 33; male lead, 17. The female lead is sexually experienced; the male lead is not. Synopsis written on 24/6/14; screenshot saved. Check out my friend's completed novel, The Horse Slave and the Young Master (Matriarchal Society), by Liu Qingxiu. ★★★ Uncle, currently ongoing Ji Shuyu hates her uncle. Neither of them came from respectable backgrounds: one is an adopted daughter, the other an illegitimate son. The two people who should have kept their heads down have been at each other's throats for ten years. Ji Chang is always deliberately provoking her. His mouth is so foul that Ji Shuyu wants to shut it for him. He's ruthless and hypocritical, always wearing a faint, mocking smile that makes her sick. At last, she beat Ji Chang and had him sent to another planet. But when he returned three years later, her uncle seemed different. Somehow, he had become even better at getting under her skin. “Uncle, if you're going to work under me, you need to know your place.” She didn't look at him as she warned him coldly. Ji Chang smiled and leaned close. “Oh? And what punishment would I get if I didn't behave and you caught me, my young lady?” Ji Chang never told Ji Shuyu that he had survived because of the choice she made in another timeline. People say Ji Shuyu is cold, incapable of empathizing with others, too blunt, and unable to be tactful. They say she doesn't fit in here. But so what? They've been at each other's throats for ten years. No one understands them better than they understand each other. “Young lady, I'm a poisonous snake. Once you've provoked a snake, you can't run away. I won't let you go...” “Good,” Ji Shuyu said, raising a hand to pinch his face and ruin the composure he'd maintained for so long. “I wasn't planning to let you go, either.” Then let them torment each other for the rest of their lives. Niece and uncle, adopted daughter and illegitimate son: rivals evenly matched, and a scandal across the stars. Theme: Someone, somewhere, is always on their way to you.