Years After Her Substitute Marriage, the Duchess of the Duke's Estate Lost Her Memory

Yao Yuqing has lost her memory.

In her memories, she had only recently married in someone else's place to repay a debt of gratitude. She was eighteen, pregnant, and had just arrived in the capital with her husband, who had been promoted to an official post there.

But after dozing off and opening her eyes again, she had become the mistress of a ducal estate, famous throughout Shengjing. She was over thirty, admired by countless people, and possessed wealth, power, and prestige she had never dared dream of...

Along with the peak of her life came a whole heap of troublesome matters:

Without letting anyone discover that she had lost twelve years of memories, Yao Yuqing had to deal with her freeloading relatives, who were using her name to throw their weight around in Shengjing;

She wanted to win back her elder sister and her closest friend, who now treated her like a stranger;

And she had to handle with care the beautiful maid she remembered having just bought her freedom and brought home the day before yesterday, but who had now given birth to a five-year-old son and was firmly established as her husband's favorite concubine...

Yao Yuqing believed none of this would be a problem. She had always been able to adapt to any situation and accomplish whatever she set out to do.

It was just that Yao Yuqing knew she had also forgotten a very important secret...

*

Shen Linglong was reborn.

In her previous life, as the legitimate daughter of a regional governor, she had always prided herself on being superior to Yao Yuqing in every way. Yet when it came time to marry, she was briefly captivated by a man's looks and rashly agreed to wed that unpromising new metropolitan official.

Meanwhile, the orphan girl Yao Yuqing, who had been raised in her family's household, somehow struck it lucky. After a series of twists and turns, she married a down-and-out imperial relative whom no one had expected to one day ascend the throne, and became the new empress!

In this new life, Shen Linglong snatched Yao Yuqing's match, secretly pledged herself to the down-and-out imperial relative ahead of time, and made Yao Yuqing marry the useless husband whose official career had gone nowhere in her previous life.

But who could have expected that this time the low-ranking official would rise all the way to become a duke?

Yao Yuqing became the famed Duchess of Shengjing, a first-rank titled lady! Her renown and real authority even surpassed Shen Linglong's, though Shen was an empress trapped in the deep palace by rigid ceremony?

Shen Linglong was indignant. Now that she had been reborn, why was Yao Yuqing still so fortunate?

*

...Pei Shou had always believed that he and Yao Yuqing had no chance of ever being together.

It was only when he realized that Yao Yuqing had lost her memory that his desire flared anew:

Perhaps this time, she could finally begin to "remember" him?

*Female lead x male lead traits:

[Cool and ruthless before losing her memory, devoted and innocent afterward, a looks-obsessed female lead

x Formerly a puppy, now a younger wolfish man who talks himself into believing she loves him, a tea-green male lead]

The female lead is not a virgin, the male lead is a hanger-on

Theme: Focus on yourself, and be confident and resolute