After the Eighteenth Time Being Chosen as a Husband at the Imperial Exams

[A seemingly carefree, spoiled young lady who is actually vindictive and ruthlessly calculating x A seemingly bright and noble man who is actually brooding, prone to wild conjectures and jealousy, and a resentful abandoned husband]

Another year, another results day. Yet the famous Lady Ling'an, renowned throughout the capital, failed to show up to snatch herself a husband as expected. Only then did everyone learn that before she could leave home, she had already been taken away by Shi Yun, the junior minister of the Court of Judicial Review.

Facing Shi Yun, the top third-place candidate whom she'd snatched up once six years ago, You Xian suspected him of abusing his authority to get revenge. But she couldn't openly defy the law, so she had no choice but to cooperate with the questioning.

Lady Ling'an said, "Let me go. I really haven't been trafficking people. Which law in the Great Liang dynasty forbids snatching a husband from among the new graduates? Everyone else gets to do it. Why can't I?"

Shi Yun didn't believe her. "But you've done it eighteen times, my lady. You still haven't found one you're satisfied with?"

Lady Ling'an snorted. "I'm just a picky woman. What, do you have a problem with that?"

The emperor of this dynasty valued selecting officials through the imperial examinations, and so the custom of snatching husbands from among the successful candidates flourished in the capital. Members of the imperial clan and senior officials all liked to personally snatch a fine husband for their precious daughters, and put it this way: if you get him yourself, you can trust him!

Six years ago, Shi Yun, the new top third-place candidate, naturally became the most coveted "prey" of the year. But in the end, it wasn't some minister who snatched him. It was Lady Ling'an, who had just come of age that year.

The young lady was as lovely as a jade carving and kind to everyone. He'd been harboring some resentment, but the moment he saw her, it was as if he were caught in a sudden storm: flustered and helpless, his heart pounding like a drum.

In that instant, he realized he'd fallen for her.

But he still had important things to accomplish, and he was too proud in his youth to settle on marriage so hastily. He thought they should spend some time together first and get to know one another.

But the young lady was impatient, or perhaps she simply didn't understand what he was saying. She took his tactful words as a rejection and magnanimously sent him back.

That year, the newly arrived Lady Ling'an, whose audacious behavior shocked the capital, became famous alongside the new top third-place candidate who had been taken away for a night and then kicked out.

Of course she could snatch a husband, but she shouldn't have snatched him only to throw him away!

She said she was picky, but she clearly accepted anyone. She snatched up those who passed the palace examination, and later she didn't turn her nose up at those who passed the provincial examination. Were any of the seventeen men she snatched afterward better than him?

Over six years, he steadily rose through the ranks, watching rumors about her spread one after another. The regret in his heart burned more fiercely with each one. Why had he really left when she told him to go?

So after six years of brooding in the shadows, Shi Yun finally couldn't take it anymore. He stopped her, his eyes glinting. "My lady, why did you seduce me and then abandon me?"

You Xian was utterly baffled. What had she done to him?

The newly graduated top third-place candidate, Shi: I have to climb the ranks on my own merits. I can't become some pretty boy everyone thinks is just clinging to powerful people.

Six years later, the weary junior minister, Shi: She likes my pretty face. You're all just jealous you can't have me.

The young lady six years ago: It took so long to find someone I like... Forget it. Revenge matters most to me. No man is going to get in my way.

Lady Ling'an six years later: I want my enemy's life, and I want her man too.

1v1, happy ending.

The setting is entirely made up, so there's no need to fact-check. Relevant details will be explained in the author's notes.

A supporting character transmigrates.

The heroine is in a slow-burn revenge story, while the hero is in a youthful heartbreak story.

The heroine and hero misunderstood each other back then, and their perspectives may not match. The misunderstanding will be cleared up before they confess their feelings.

There will be a male supporting character with unrequited feelings for the heroine.

The author's goal for this story: to piece together some seemingly ridiculous, incompatible keywords and still make the plot logically consistent in the end.

I feel like I should explain that a lot of the information in the blurb and the story is simply what the bystanders, including the hero, believe. It doesn't necessarily reflect what really happened. For example, at the start of Chapter One, everyone assumes the heroine is going to snatch a husband, but she has no such plan at all. Neither the writing nor the heroine takes things too seriously. As for how she managed to snatch a husband eighteen times, feel free to let your imagination run wild... If I get the chance, I'll write out the causes, events, and outcomes of all eighteen attempts. Sending love.

Theme: Marriage requires both people to choose each other