After Falling from Grace, I Became My Archrival's Beloved

The old master of the Chu family in Ningcheng fell seriously ill and insisted on having a eldest grandson. As a result, Chu Hehuai, the daughter of the second branch, a concubine-born branch of the Chu family, became the eldest grandson, and from then on the second branch took charge of the household. She became a thorn in the side of Chu Helan, the legitimate daughter of the first branch. To keep anyone from seeing through her, Chu Hehuai stayed out of sight, devoted herself to her studies, and kept people at a distance.

On the eve of becoming the future head of the family, her grandfather told her that an important guest would soon be coming to their home. The guest was of exalted status and difficult to deal with, could influence who would become head of the family, and was also her mortal enemy. She took the opportunity to sneak out, using the alias Jiang Jiang. In bright clothes, riding a fine horse, she was carefree and spirited, enjoying herself to the fullest.

One should not get too cocky. Sooner or later, the world will make you pay for it.

Sure enough, one unfortunate thing after another happened. First she ran into real bandits who wanted her money, so she claimed to be Chu Hehuai's "kept woman." Then she ran into fake bandits who wanted to kill her. A beautiful passerby named Yin Xi rescued her.

She had just escaped the tiger's den only to fall into the wolf's lair, and then into a land of tenderness. With the important guest about to arrive, she had to endure her grievance and act sunny and sweet so she could get home. She called the other woman "Older Sister" over and over until she lost herself, while repeatedly bringing up Chu Hehuai and asking the woman to hurry up and take her home.

Yin Xi: Jiang Jiang, let me take you shopping.

Jiang Jiang: Older Sister, you are the first person besides Chu Hehuai to be nice to me.

At last, she managed to regain her freedom, thinking she had missed the chance to receive the important guest. Who could have guessed that the guest had been delayed on the way? The next day, she saw the person her family was entertaining: that beautiful older sister, Xi Yin.

Wen Jingyuan, courtesy name Xiyin.

The four great misfortunes of life: encountering bandits who want your money, then bandits who want your life, being rescued by a beauty and losing your freedom, and having your mortal enemy drop out of the sky.

After her real identity came to light, Chu Hehuai spent her days nervously trying to curry favor with Wen Jingyuan. Wen Jingyuan agreed to let her become head of the family, but then something unexpected happened, and Wen Jingyuan drove her out of the house.

Wen Jingyuan was the personal female official to the female emperor of the capital, the daughter of the Duke of Wen, and Commandery Princess Wencheng. Decisive and formidable, she was every bit the equal of any man. She returned to visit her maternal grandfather's Chu family, and strongly disapproved of the second branch rising to power by relying on its eldest grandson.

As soon as she arrived outside the city, she came across bandits causing trouble. She happened to rescue a young woman named Jiang Jiang, and learned of her tragic background: Chu Hehuai had forcibly taken her as a "kept woman." Feeling sympathy for her, Wen Jingyuan decided to keep her away from Chu Hehuai's clutches.

Jiang Jiang was such a clingy young woman, calling her "Older Sister" this and "Older Sister" that all day long. Apart from her youthful innocence, the way she kept mentioning Chu Hehuai only strengthened Wen Jingyuan's resolve not to let her return to the Chu family. But one day, the young woman disappeared. Wen Jingyuan decided to settle the score with Chu Hehuai.

But when she returned, the next day she met the "eldest grandson" Chu Hehuai, whom her maternal grandfather cherished above all else. Chu Hehuai looked exactly like Jiang Jiang, except she was aloof, taciturn, sharp-tongued, and proud.

Wen Jingyuan: Jiang Jiang, show me around.

Chu Hehuai: We aren't close.

The four great annoyances of life: running into a political enemy who has become a bandit, Chu Helan's cousin hiring someone to dress up as a bandit and kill her "sister-in-law," the person you like being in love with your mortal enemy, and your mortal enemy looking exactly like the person you like.

Content warnings:

1. The two are not related by blood.

2. Chu Hehuai is sixteen, and Wen Jingyuan is twenty.

3. The writing is at an elementary-school level.

4. Women can marry women, and women can have children together.

5. The story takes place about seventy years after I Fought the Crown Prince for His Princess Consort. The two stories are not closely connected.

Theme: At last, the world has gone as mad as I always imagined it would.