Xiangsi was the illegitimate daughter of a prominent family. After her birth mother died young, her kindhearted legitimate mother raised her under her wing.
As Xiangsi grew older and more beautiful, her stepmother began making plans for her and sent the senior maid at her side to instruct her.
The maid told Xiangsi to put the family and her legitimate siblings first in everything. Xiangsi acted obedient, but secretly thought little of it.
When she came of age, Xiangsi heard that her stepmother planned to marry her off to Chu Yanyu, a poor scholar, to pave the way for the family. She was consumed with jealousy and resentment.
At a flower-viewing banquet, Xiangsi deliberately fell into the water, arranging for Pei Linxiao to rescue her.
In full view of everyone, their clothes were soaked, and their skin touched.
Xiangsi thought that, bound by social convention, Pei Linxiao would have no choice but to take responsibility. But the Pei family delayed giving her an answer.
Her sisters mocked her, the Pei family's intentions remained unclear, the servants whispered, and her marriageable age was approaching. Xiangsi decided not to put all her eggs in one basket. Her attention, once focused on Pei Linxiao, began to turn elsewhere.
The childhood friend next door, the young lord of a noble house, her former fiance...
Several men began pursuing Xiangsi. After she went a long time without visiting him, Pei Linxiao found himself feeling disappointed.
He thought that while Xiangsi's family background was ordinary, she was pretty and well-mannered. Besides, since they had been physically intimate, she could just about qualify as his principal wife.
So, during his time off, Pei Linxiao took the initiative and invited Xiangsi on an outing to the countryside.
But his friends, colleagues, and even his archenemy began showing up one after another. As Pei Linxiao listened to their intimate conversations and watched their familiar gestures, his expression darkened, and his hand unconsciously clenched into a fist.
He had no idea Xiangsi had become so popular.
Xiangsi: I just want to live a little better. What's wrong with that?
Recommended: another villainess story in the same series, "The Venomous Beauty"
Mu He was famous throughout the nearby villages for her beauty. Before she had even come of age, a landlord set his sights on her.
Her parents coveted the generous bride price and planned to send her to become the concubine of a landlord old enough to be her grandfather as soon as she came of age.
When Mu He found out, she waited until her father was drunk, set fire to the wooden house where she had lived for more than ten years, and fled the den of misery under cover of night.
She escaped all the way to town, where she unexpectedly met a wealthy young lord visiting the area.
Mu He saw an opportunity and successfully seduced him with her beauty.
She listened to the promises the young lord made, but paid them no mind. All she wanted was a life of wealth and luxury.
Mu He followed him home, only to learn that he already had a wife and intended to take her as a concubine.
Mu He was unwilling, but there was nothing she could do.
Just as she was about to accept her fate, she noticed that the young lord's friend looked at her with less than pure intentions.
Mu He curved her lips into a smile and used the same trick on the young lord's friend.
After many twists and turns, Mu He became a widow, living with her stepson, who was only a few years old, and guarding a vast fortune.
She thought she would spend the rest of her life in peace, until the newly appointed county magistrate knocked on her door.
Theme: Keep your feet on the ground
