Cross-Dressing as a Bride to Marry the Dragon-Ao-Tian Hero [Worldbuilding]

[Infrastructure Building + Farming + Conquest, with an Imaginary Dynasty Inspired by the Wei-Jin Era]

[Self-Conquering Warlord Top × Pretty, Wooden Strategist Bottom]

Lan Yao, the refined and graceful young master of the Lan family, famed for his peerless beauty and unrivaled skill at calculation, awakens memories of his modern life.

He discovers that he is living in a male-oriented conquest novel, and his entire family is destined to be tragic cannon fodder.

His younger sister dies after the tyrant arranges her marriage to the protagonist. His mother takes her own life after her resistance proves futile. His father is so stubborn that he dies in service to the tyrant.

*

By comparison, Huo Yuanqian, the overpowered protagonist who will one day ascend the throne, may be arrogant and ruthless, but he is truly a hero.

Rising in arms from the bitter cold of the northern frontier, he wages war for years and brings the realm to heel.

He is hailed as a god of war and a king who never loses. He also treats his loyal followers well and never discards them once they are no longer useful.

Looking at the imperial decree arranging his sister's marriage and the gloomy Lan family, Lan Yao decides to seize the chance to pledge himself to the still-undiscovered son of fortune, invest in the future emperor early, and help the realm.

The handsome young man, whose face is like a hibiscus flower, dons a brilliant red wedding gown and secretly switches places with his sister.

But he was supposed to become a strategist, so why does the newly acquired golden finger System identify his story arc as "cross-dressing and marrying in his sister's place"?

*

After the frail young lady of the Lan family marries into Liangzhou, she never leaves the house. The usually arrogant and unruly King of the Northwest is utterly devoted to her and cherishes her like a treasure.

Meanwhile, the Liangzhou army quietly gains an immortal's disciple, a man who can calculate everything and knows all there is to know.

He performs miracles, opening up thousands of acres of farmland in the bitterly cold Northwest, improving farming tools, building irrigation works, planning cities, and manufacturing weapons. He turns the region into a paradise on earth that everyone longs to visit.

Several years later, Huo Yuanqian's army breaks through the imperial capital, just as it does in the novel. But this time, there are far fewer cries of misery, and the streets are full of joy and prosperity.

Lan Yao happily calculates that, given all he has accomplished, he should surely be rewarded with one of the Three Excellencies.

Instead, Huo Yuanqian tosses both the imperial jade seal and the phoenix seal into his hands.

"Become my empress. We will rule together, two sovereigns sharing the realm."

*

At first, Huo Yuanqian is both suspicious and disdainful of the talented young man of the Lan family, who wears a wedding gown, looks like a beautiful woman, and vows the moment they meet to help him rule the realm.

But later, he realizes that every single thing this man has promised him has come true.

And his lonely, desolate heart has long since become bound to him.

"Lan Yao, without you, this realm would be utterly dull."

1. A farming and infrastructure-building story. The top handles the fighting, and the bottom handles the governing.

2. Plot + romance = sweet and satisfying (trust me!)

3. A System that may or may not have a mind of its own, and that helps with infrastructure projects, will appear.

Please add my upcoming farming novel to your reading list!

The Pastry Shop of the Young Man Who Came as a Dowry [Gourmet] / Earn freedom, open a shop, and make a fortune, with food and romance both on the menu

[Everyday Gourmet shopkeeping, young constable × pastry shop owner]

Su Luo's family came as the dowry of the Second Madam of the Rong household.

His mother helps in the kitchen, his father guards the gate, his older brother serves the Third Young Master, and his younger sister attends the Fifth Young Lady.

Su Luo is skilled at making pastries. The Second Madam is widowed and short on money, and life in the Rong household is difficult. Remembering that her dowry included a struggling pastry shop, she sends him out to manage it.

Everyone in the Rong household sneers, waiting to laugh at the young man from the inner household. To their surprise, Su Luo soon has every aspect of the shop running smoothly.

He can keep the books, purchase supplies, hire staff, and handle social obligations. He also creates a whole collection of delicious pastries that take the city by storm:

Sweet treats include jade-leaf cakes, plum-blossom biscuits, flaky butter spirals, and chilled cherry tarts.

Savory treats include goose and duck skewers, dragon-whisker pastry, crab roe buns, and sesame scallion pancakes.

In less than two years, the once deserted shop has been completely transformed. Business is booming, and even the young ladies of the Provincial Administration Commissioner's household buy their banquet treats there.

The servants of the Rong household start setting their sights on Su Luo. This young man is so good at making money. Once he's old enough to be matched with a servant, couldn't they arrange for him to marry into their family and keep his share of the profits for themselves?

Su Luo smiles and tactfully sends away the matchmaker who comes on the housekeeper's wife's behalf, never giving her a clear answer. Nobody knows that he has a big plan of his own.

He intends to buy his whole family out of servitude, open his own shop, and choose his future husband himself.

For instance, the young Constable Yang, who lives in the next alley, is always lingering near the pastry shop and turns red whenever he speaks to Su Luo. He seems like a good choice.

*

Yang Zhaojian lost both his parents when he was young and was raised by his older brother and sister-in-law. At sixteen, he mastered martial arts and, thanks to his father's connections, got a constable's job at the yamen.

When he came of age to marry, his sister-in-law found the most famous matchmaker nearby. As soon as the matchmaker saw Yang Zhaojian, she confidently promised that with his looks, build, and job, she could arrange a match with any young lady or young man in the four wards and eight streets.

Yang Zhaojian hesitated for a long time, then muttered, "What about someone from the Rong household on the next street?"

The matchmaker and his sister-in-law were both startled. The Rong household was one of the wealthiest families in the city. Why would he set his sights on their young master or young lady?

After they pressed him for an answer, Yang Zhaojian blushed scarlet and spoke so quietly his voice could hardly be heard. "Not a young master. I want Su Luo, the young man from the Rong household."

He doesn't ask for riches or a storehouse full of gold and silver. He only wants to take his beloved's hand and savor every day of life's ordinary pleasures together.

1. A farming story with Gourmet food and business, about the little joys of everyday life among ordinary people.

2. Family and household matters, handsome top and beautiful bottom, a young couple growing closer bit by bit.

Theme: Development is the only way forward