At eight years old, Zhu Xi got into an argument with her mother. In a fit of pique, she angrily made two solemn vows.
First, she would become a better butcher than her mother and earn money to support the family.
Second, she would find herself a handsome young husband, more dashing than her father, who had died young, and have lots of children.
She would prove to all those gossips behind her back that Zhu Xi alone could become the pillar of the Zhu family and bring honor to her ancestors!
But most of the unmarried young men in the village and town were ugly as sin. Even after Zhu Xi became famous across the surrounding villages for her superb butchering skills, she still hadn't fulfilled her second great ambition.
It made Zhu Xi worry day after day.
She had heard that people who broke their vows would suffer a backlash. She'd been having one run of bad luck after another lately, and even lost a huge clump of hair for no apparent reason. It had to be because of that!
So when she first saw Wei Xun, badly wounded and covered in blood, yet still undeniably handsome, her eyes lit up at once.
Save him! She had to save him at any cost!
So she spent a fortune on medicine and devoted herself to caring for him, eagerly looking forward to the day his wounds healed and the two of them could marry.
Once they were married and she'd fulfilled her vow, Zhu Xi would be the most amazing person in the Zhu family from then on!
Until one day, when she happily went to see Wei Xun and overheard him speaking of her to a richly dressed young lady, his tone cold and disdainful. "She's nothing but a village woman, crude and ignorant. If I didn't still need to use her name as cover while I recover here, why would I have anything to do with someone like her?"
The young lady covered her mouth and giggled. "Quite so. How could a mere village woman compare with our noble families? When you leave, give her a few taels of silver to send her on her way. It'll be enough for a dowry, so she can marry another butcher. A perfect match."
The two of them stood together like a couple made for each other.
Zhu Xi's good mood vanished. She picked up the freshly butchered pork and the ginseng she'd just bought, then turned and left, heartbroken.
Ancestors above, it looked like she wouldn't be able to fulfill her second great ambition this year either. When would she finally become the most amazing person in the Zhu family, worthy of the title?
In a state of sorrow, Zhu Xi fed the pork to Big Yellow at the village entrance and walked home, gnawing on the ginseng along the way.
But as soon as she stepped through the gate in the fence, she saw a group of soldiers in black armor kneeling before her and shouting, "We welcome Your Highness, the Princess!"
And beside them stood her father, risen from the dead, dressed in finery and radiating grandeur, smiling at her.
"My child, you and your mother have suffered. Come with your father to the capital, where you'll live a good life."
Male pig? Pig-herding? Palace master? Princess?
Zhu Xi stood frozen, holding the half-eaten ginseng. A jumble of thoughts flashed through her mind, but in the end, all she could think of was the scene she'd just witnessed, with Wei Xun standing beside that young lady from a noble family.
She looked at her father, whose regal, domineering aura shone through even his plain clothes, and suddenly found herself thinking of a question that could hardly have been less appropriate.
Which had the higher status: a princess, or the two of them?
Still dazed, she packed up and went with her mother to the capital, a place she'd only ever heard about in plays. There she saw with her own eyes all the officials of the court kneel before her father, and experienced firsthand all sorts of unheard-of "inventions" that were supposedly his handiwork.
Only then did Zhu Xi belatedly realize something.
Oh no! She'd probably never become the most amazing person in the Zhu family in her entire life!
Reader's Guide:
1. The heroine is a native of this world; her scumbag father has transmigrated.
2. Blurb written on June 5, 2025.
Theme: Are kings, nobles, generals, and ministers born to their station?
