Rising with the Wind (Imperial Examinations)

[Blurb for my next novel, Good Generals, at the very bottom:]

Yu Wanzhou opened her eyes and found she had transmigrated.

She had become the vicious supporting female character in a certain online novel for women, whose fate was miserable.

Thinking of the male lead, who had taken advantage of her at every turn, then turned around and accused her instead, Yu Wanzhou made up her mind: She would take the male lead's path and leave him with nowhere to go!

She would sit the imperial examinations!

After countless trials, Yu Wanzhou finally reached the palace examination.

On that day, the drum used to petition the emperor, which had not been struck in a hundred years, rang out again and again. Yu Wanzhou was accused of cheating in the imperial examinations and taken into the Dali Temple.

The promising top candidate, who had been on the road to glory, was suddenly thrown in prison, and she was a woman! The whole court was shaken. The Censor-in-Chief sprang into action, impeaching Yu Wanzhou as if she were unfit to be human.

Everyone thought that even if Yu Wanzhou survived, she would come out badly battered. Unexpectedly, she emerged without a scratch and even became the youngest top scholar in the dynasty!

Her political enemies were so furious they nearly spat blood. "Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

Yu Wanzhou: "Everyone, as the emperor's trusted aide, I can do anything."

The history books record: In the sixth year of Wending, the imperial examinations selected one in a hundred, talented men filled the court, and ruler and ministers worked in harmony, ushering in peace throughout the realm.

When later historians study the "Wending Era of Good Governance," they always begin with the perfectly ordinary eve of a palace examination, when someone reported that a fellow candidate was a woman disguised as a man and had cheated in the exams...

Coming soon: Good Generals, a bright and spirited female general x a sickly powerful minister

Lu Yunchao died on the battlefield in her previous life.

After her, the Duke of Zhenguo's household had no descendants left. The whole family had been loyal to the end.

She had thought her life had ended on a satisfactory note. But when she became a wandering ghost, she learned that her family's deaths had not been an accident.

The Lu family's ancestors had devoted themselves to their country, but that counted for nothing against the charge of being "too powerful for the ruler's comfort."

Lu Yunchao was furious, but could do nothing. She watched coldly as the emperor gloated and treacherous ministers held sway.

Her sickly fiancé, whom she had always disliked, entered the political arena. Step by step, he became a powerful minister, sidelined imperial authority, supported the new emperor, and avenged her.

Everyone said Pei Yinghuai was an ambitious schemer. Even Lu Yunchao, who watched everything unfold, thought so, privately admitting she had underestimated him.

But after the new emperor ascended the throne, Pei Yinghuai killed himself at home, still clutching the marriage contract between him and Lu Yunchao.

*

The legitimate son of the Earl of Loyalty and Valor, he was born frail despite being the son of a military man, and could barely walk a few steps without gasping.

Lu Yunchao had been engaged to him for years, but she disliked this fiancé and had never acknowledged the engagement.

She could not understand why Pei Yinghuai had taken out their marriage contract before killing himself, nor why he had worn that expression.

When she opened her eyes again, she was back six years earlier. Her father and brothers were still alive, and Lu Yunchao was a junior officer in the army.

In this new life, for reasons she could not explain, she did not refuse when the Pei family came to discuss their engagement.

From then on, Pei Yinghuai, who had never appeared before, was often in front of her, his eyes filled with a meaning she could not understand, as if he were both happy and sad.

*

In Pei Yinghuai's dark and dreary life, Lu Yunchao was his only light. Unfortunately, Lu Yunchao did not remember.

In his previous life, after avenging Lu Yunchao, he killed himself at home. Even in death, he did not dare visit Lu Yunchao's grave, afraid she would be disgusted with him.

He thought he would finally be free. But when he opened his eyes again, he was alive, and he truly had a lifetime of marriage with Lu Yunchao...

Please read before starting:

1. The setting is fictional, with many invented details. Please don't nitpick historical accuracy.

2. The male lead is a background character. Later, the female lead passes the imperial examinations as a woman.

3. To be added.

Theme: Walk your own path