When the Tragic Heroine Binds Herself to the Treacherous Official System

Ji Shibaniang was a noblewoman, but her mother died young, leaving her all but invisible in her own household. Fortunately, she and a noble young lord had fallen in love, and soon she would escape her misery. But...

The man who loved her was a treacherous wolf in disguise. On their wedding day, he framed her family. All the men of her clan were slaughtered, and the women were forced to become government courtesans. As a married woman, she narrowly escaped that fate, but afterward she was humiliated at every turn, with everyone free to bully and trample her. Her former lover demoted her from wife to concubine, then turned around and married a princess. Yet in secret, he still forced her to serve him. After one ordeal after another, she miscarried, was poisoned, and disfigured. In the end, he knelt and begged her to forgive him...

"Ugh, what a scumbag!" After transmigrating and receiving the script, Ji Xi complained angrily to the System.

As it munched on sunflower seeds, the Villain System tried to console her. "Don't be angry, Host. These are all things that are going to happen. As long as you and I work together, you'll hold power over the entire court one day. Dealing with a mere scumbag will be easy!"

After weighing it over, Ji Xi nodded. She really didn't want to be tortured physically and emotionally, only for the scumbag to kneel before her in the end.

"What do I do now?" Ji Xi was eager to get started, rolling up her sleeves and preparing to become a great villain!

The System pointed guiltily toward the cuju field below the pavilion. "Play cuju with the Emperor and become his most trusted cuju buddy."

"???" Ji Xi stared at it in disbelief.

The System pressed on in one breath. "To become a villain, you have to start as the Emperor's lackey. Good luck, Host. You can do it!"

Ji Xi: "..."

She had no choice. For her own life and for every last member of her family, she had to make it work!

And so, Ji Xi practiced cuju in summer and pitch-pot in winter, nervously sucking up to the Emperor at every opportunity. At last, she rose to become the Emperor's most trusted and most powerful lackey!

When the original male lead followed the original plot and prepared to ask for Ji Xi's hand in marriage, planning to use the opportunity to destroy her family, Ji Xi gave a faint smile. With a wave of her hand, the Imperial Guards streamed in. "Well, you can marry me or have your household searched and confiscated. Pick one~"

The original male lead swallowed. "Marry you?"

Ji Xi shook her head. "What a shame you chose to have your household searched and confiscated!"

The original male lead: "..."

Note: The Emperor is the actual male lead.

Theme: Stand on your own two feet and grow stronger