I, the Villainess, Successfully Rose to the Top!

After being dead for many years, Wen Shuran finally learned who she was: the wicked female supporting character in a romance story.

The emperor and empress were the leads of the story. They were born to noble families, possessed noble character, were as bright as the moon, and remained unshaken by favor and glory.

As their foil, she was born humble, ungrateful, and ruthless.

In the end, after committing countless evil deeds, she died miserably in the Cold Palace, while the male and female leads ruled the land together and lived happily ever after.

Wen Shuran: I was already dead, but this made me so mad I came back to life.

But being reborn at a time like this is worse than staying dead.

Her younger brother is about to rack up a huge debt, and her mother will use her to pay it off. Then she'll become an "adopted daughter" of the noblewomen from the great clans!

That's right, the kind they send to someone's bed.

With no other choice, Wen Shuran returns to her old trade. She makes a name for herself throughout the city selling fragrant drinks, then uses saltpeter to make ice and amasses a fortune.

Her mother wants her to sell herself to pay off the debt?

Wen Shuran refuses and says she respects her elders and cares for the young. If her mother is willing, she can sell herself first.

Her younger brother wants to cling to her and suck her dry?

Wen Shuran slaps him away, then turns around and takes a little from him herself.

The male and female leads want her to be a punching bag for the noblewomen of the great clans?

Sure. Then she'll wipe out all the great clans, so everyone will be born on equal footing.

They still want her to be a shield protecting true love?

Fine. Get rid of the love, and there'll be no need for a shield.

Who says a supporting character has to accept her fate? She'll live up to her wicked reputation, stir the former dynasty and imperial harem into chaos, and climb to the highest position, where she will be revered by all.

In short: Nothing beats wealth and glory!

The heroine is wicked and will not be redeemed.

The male and female leads are both reborn. The second male lead pursues his wife after losing her, but never wins her back.

Male lead's perspective (Xie Qingyu):

They met when they were nobodies and came to know each other in times of danger. She was a man-eating flower he had nurtured with his own hands.

Yet she heartlessly abandoned him.

He would have his revenge! He would make her regret it!

But he has his own arrangements and plans for revenge.

He's only pretending to be so besotted with her. Everything is under his control.

Don't worry, he absolutely will not fall in love with her again.

It's all just a temporary expedient.

What? She's still willing to use him?

So she really does care about him.

The setting is very loose.

P.S. The heroine is not a good person in the conventional sense.

My completed novel next door: The Salted-Fish Noble Consort of the Qing Dynasty. A lie-flat salted fish's culinary life. Come check it out!

Theme: Love is just a pleasant addition to a good life