Laughter in Chang'an

[Up next: the ancient-style reborn sweet romance, A Toast Refused, a Flower Wine Accepted, follows right after this one. It's currently serializing, so please add it to your favorites!]

Jiang Xiaoyu, one of Chang'an's famed Twin Beauties and Princess Zhaoyun, had spent over a decade pretending to be a beautiful, timid fool, all to make the emperor lower his guard against her family.

Then an accident changed everything.

Her closest friend died. Jiang Xiaoyu fell ill. Her enemies closed in step by step.

That damn emperor openly wanted to make life miserable for her entire family. What patience? What hiding her talents? What keeping a low profile? I'm done! I'm flipping the table!

So Jiang Xiaoyu took her best support, the powerful official Zhao Che, and fought her way straight to the emperor's throne.

The mild-mannered Grand Secretary played one role: "When the princess kills, I pass her the knife. When she has trouble, I back her up."

At last, the damn emperor was deposed, and it was time to choose a new emperor. Jiang Xiaoyu looked at the candidates and was dumbfounded.

Looking down, the options were unbearable.

Looking up, there was nothing at all.

The verdict: No one to choose from.

Jiang Xiaoyu: Fine, I'll take the throne myself.

The emperor had Zhao Che choose a husband for Jiang Xiaoyu.

The requirements: His family couldn't be too low-ranking, or it would bring shame on the imperial family; but it couldn't be too powerful either, or the emperor would feel uneasy.

After much thought, Zhao Che realized there seemed to be only one person who fit the bill: Zhao Che himself.

If you asked Zhao Che when he first realized his feelings, perhaps it was the day Jiang Xiaoyu handed him Fengming with a bright smile and told him that this was, in a way, a return to its rightful owner.

Even knowing it was just her way of winning people's hearts, Zhao Che was still more than happy to play along.

P.S.

1. Both leads are strong. The female lead is the strongest attacker, the male lead the strongest support, and the female lead has a roguish personality. The reason for the male lead's high status will be explained later.

2. Both leads are each other's only partners.

3. The setting is mostly made up, and the world-building is very loose. Place names are chosen because they sound nice, so please don't mind.

4. "The mandate of heaven should have belonged to women all along." Code: Yuan Deng

5. The golden finger is turned all the way up.

If this one's bad, you can hit me.

[Up next: the lighthearted, sweet and satisfying reborn story A Toast Refused, a Flower Wine Accepted is currently serializing. If you like it, please add it to your favorites~]

A beauty who can kill with her looks, a dramatic actress x a tsundere emperor who says one thing and means another

Yuan Denghuan, also known as Xunniang, was the top courtesan at Spring Lodge, the biggest brothel in Chang'an.

In her previous life, Yuan Denghuan had just debuted when a young master from the Duke's household took a liking to her and paid a fortune to buy her freedom.

Thinking her hardships were finally over, Yuan Denghuan was carried into the Duke's household in a small sedan chair.

But when a princess from a neighboring kingdom came to pay tribute, she took a fancy to the young master of the Duke's household. Yuan Denghuan, with her awkward status, caught the princess's attention and was still doomed to die.

After waking up, Yuan Denghuan found herself back before her debut. This time, she decided that if she was going to cling to anyone, she'd cling to the most powerful person in the world.

And so Emperor Jiang Yao became the unlucky mark.

The delicate beauty collapsed at Emperor Jiang Yao's feet, her peerless face on the verge of tears.

"Young master~ I haven't eaten lunch, and I'm too weak to stand. Please forgive me."

Jiang Yao swore that he had never been interested in women. It was all because the breeze that day was too warm and left him a little light-headed.

A short scene:

Watching Yuan Denghuan lose herself in her performance, Jiang Yao slapped his thigh. This was the one!

His harem needed someone with acting skills like hers, someone who could help him anger the wicked Empress Dowager to death and silence the critics.

P.S. 1. The female lead is like Lin Daiyu yanking a willow tree out of the ground. She's sharp-tongued, theatrical, and hilarious, with the outward appearance of a delicate vine but a strong heart that never turns against itself.

2. The male lead is the emperor. This is not a "win her back at all costs" story. The female lead and the second male lead missed their chance, and that's that.

3. The female lead loves herself most of all, from beginning to end.

Theme: May we build a thousand vast homes to shelter all the poor and make them rejoice.