A Personal List of Historical Romance Novels 存个个人古言书单

1. 1 反 The Villainous Couple Are Still Keeping Careful Accounts Today 反派夫妻今天也在明算账 Chen Yin臣音Romance536k WordsCompleted Jian Huan transmigrates into a cultivation novel and becomes the fiendish villain’s fiancée. With nothing in her purse, she remembers how the original owner refused to break off the engagement and met a miserable end. Without a second thought, she takes the betrothal contract and goes to negotiate amicably with the villain. Shen Jizhi, who will one day bathe the cultivation world in blood, is still a disciple of the righteous sects. He quietly looks at the betrothal contract, his expression icy 273.9kFavorites491.6kClicks/ch234.3kGifts

   Curator note

   I was a bit worried about the budget before watching it, haha, but it was actually quite good. I liked the contrast and how funny it was when the male lead was in debt. It was also funny when the female lead fell for him, reminding herself that she couldn't worry about him not paying back his money and that she would have to pay off his other debts. The male lead was also in love but didn't confess yet, working even harder to pay off his debts. He finally confessed after paying off all his debts and preparing a large dowry.

2. 2 灭 After Destroying the Heavenly Dao, I Became My Archrival's Junior Sister 灭了天道后我成了死对头的师妹 Returning Mountain Jade归山玉Romance448k WordsCompleted Before Ling Luo fell to the demonic path, her talent for swordsmanship had swept the entire cultivation world. Then someone came out of nowhere and stunned the world with a single sword strike, taking away her title as the strongest swordsman. After Ling Luo fell to the demonic path, the person she wanted to kill was always protected by Yue Liangze, the greatest sword cultivator of the age. After she destroyed the Heavenly Dao, laid her regrets to rest, and left herself to die, she opened her e 480.3kFavorites513.2kClicks/ch265.8kGifts

   Curator note

   Fantasy/xia, so good!

3. 3 非 Rich or Noble 非富即贵 Rise And Leap起跃Romance510k WordsCompleted Qian Tong, just like her name suggests, is the daughter of a wealthy merchant in Yangzhou. At her full-month banquet, a fortune-teller read her fate. This girl will be either rich or noble one day. Qian Tong didn't believe it. As the saying goes, wealth rarely lasts three generations, and poverty rarely lasts five. Her family was now in its third generation. When she learned that her family planned to offer a mountain of gold as 162.7kFavorites148.7kClicks/ch110.4kGifts

   Curator note

   [Purple sugar]

4. 4 慕 Yearning for the Morning 慕朝游 Shu Ning黍宁Romance617k WordsCompleted [Main story complete. The happy ending will be updated from time to time.] The first time Mu Chaoyou met Wang Daorong, she had just transmigrated into this strange ancient world. Ghosts and monsters ran rampant, and life was as fragile as a candle in the wind. She could never have imagined that the gentle, aloof young noble before her, so refined and bright, was actually a frighteningly obsessive madman. He was the cage she would spend her whole life doing everything she could to escape. * 114.1kFavorites122.3kClicks/ch72.2kGifts

   Curator note

   I can only say that this is shocking and mind-blowing.

5. 5 金 Ballad of the Golden Wind 金风谣 Rise And Leap起跃Romance530k WordsCompleted Also titled: "Why Is She Always There When I Turn Around?" Lou Lingfeng, eldest son of the Lou family, became its head at twenty-four and rose to the top of the Five Great Families, but could never shake off the stain from his past. When he was young and studying, he fell for a young lady from the Jin family, one of the great clans. He confessed to her in public, only to hear her say, "I don't like men like you, Young Master Lou." People consequently speculated that the reason he had yet to m 71.3kFavorites67.3kClicks/ch49.5kGifts

   Curator note

   The male and female leads had a past ambiguous relationship, but later broke up for various reasons, and then they reunited. Reading this story will give you that bittersweet feeling.

6. 6 被 After My Ex Cheated, My Ex-Husband and I Rekindled Our Love 被渣后和前夫破镜重圆了 Hua Qi画七Romance806k WordsCompleted At the end of this winter, Wen He’an lost her power, was stripped of her position, and exiled to the Ruins. Born into one of the most powerful families in the Celestial Capital, she had once been a figure who could shift the balance of power with a laugh. Everyone said her disgrace and loss of everything she had were all because of one thing: love. Wen He’an had once married someone else. He was peerless in family background, stre 249.8kFavorites317.3kClicks/ch381.2kGifts

   Curator note

   Fantasy, broken mirror mended, both partners are virgins

7. 7 财 The God of Wealth and Chunhua 财神春花 Ge Yang戈鞅Romance532k WordsCompleted The story of two emotionless old immortals falling in love in the mortal world. Immortals have endless days ahead of them. If they don't stir up trouble, they get restless. Beichen Yuanjun and Chunhua, the God of Wealth, sneak off for a tryst by the Cold Pool, only to be caught red-handed by a group of little fairies. The Changsheng Heavenly Emperor issues an edict, banishing them both to the mortal realm to undergo tribulations and reflect on their mistakes. The Great Yun Dynasty rules the land 188.6kFavorites200.6kClicks/ch122.8kGifts

   Curator note

   "High Mountain Flower" features two maps: the divine realm and the mortal realm, and depicts many of the female protagonists' personal career paths.

8. 8 夫 My Husband Is the Protagonist of a BL Novel 夫君是纯爱文男主 Shu Ning黍宁Romance467k WordsCompleted 110.8kFavorites111.2kClicks/ch129.6kGifts

   Curator note

   This is really good. It's a 1v2 story. The male lead and the second male lead get married, then the male lead loses his memory and is very happy with the female lead. Then the second male lead comes along, claiming to be his husband and forcing them to divorce. They are forced to divorce but stay together. Then the second male lead gradually falls in love with the female lead, discovers he's not gay and can't get aroused by other men, and starts seducing her. It seems like it ends up being a three-way relationship. There are a lot of potential triggers, but it's really good. Those who can handle that should check it out. I dropped it after reading more than half, not because of the writing style, but because I felt my world still needed further exploration.

9. 9 黑 The Black Lotus Manual [Book Transmigration] 黑莲花攻略手册[穿书] White Feather Drawing a Carved Bow白羽摘雕弓Romance439k WordsCompleted The Black Lotus has been published in print. The author's latest work, Reborn and Married to My Nemesis, is currently serializing in the author's profile. This world is overrun by monsters, and it's the perfect place for heroes and heroines to make their legends. Too bad you're not the pure, noble heroine or the pampered, highborn villainess. You're the universally hated third female extra. In the original story, she has a crush on the male lead, plots against the heroine, and spends her whole 1.3MFavorites1.4MClicks/ch650.9kGifts

   Curator note

   The book features a sweet, sunny girl and a yandere, scheming male lead; its quality speaks for itself.

10. 10 攻 Capture the Jade 攻玉 Ning Long凝陇Romance1.2M WordsCompleted [Announcement: This novel was first published in 2020. It underwent its first full revision in April 2022 and its second in August 2026, mainly to correct typos and awkward phrasing. Returning readers don't need to reread it; you can ignore the update notices. New readers should read the official version. Pirated versions outside Jinjiang have nothing to do with this novel or its author.] A fantasy demon-hunting story set in an alternate Tang Dynasty. “Use the stones of other mountains to poli 644.4kFavorites864.2kClicks/ch988.3kGifts

    Curator note

    Demon-slaying prince & only daughter of a military family, a pair of tsundere lovers, face-slapping, self-conquest, and bickering lovers.

11. 11 攻 The Correct Strategy to Approach the Yandere Supporting Male Lead 攻略男配的正确方法 Owe Three Taels of Gold欠金三两Romance470k WordsCompleted Originally titled The Right Way to Woo a Sickly Obsessive Male Supporting Character This novel has been contracted for publication as a physical book under the title When the Lanterns Meet, available at all bookstores [The new novel Brother is currently being serialized. Click the column to read it.] Blurb Li Ruoshui transmigrated into a book, and the System tasked her with wooing the gentle, considerate male supporting character Lu Zhiyao, whose smile was like a spring breeze. She had prepared 565.9kFavorites701.5kClicks/ch328.3kGifts

    Curator note

    Without you, what use are these eyes to me? (Good, rewatch)

12. 12 被 My Ruthless Junior Brother Is Pursuing Me 被无情道小师弟倒追了 Sing of the Wind and Go风歌且行Romance1.1M WordsCompleted - Song Xiaohe, abandoned by her family as a child, was the most insignificant and untalented disciple in the Immortal Alliance. Her talent was average, and even keeping up with the monthly sect exams was a struggle. But she secretly loved her junior apprentice brother, a peerless talent who had been admired by everyone since childhood and was hailed as the Immortal Alliance's greatest prodigy. She had loved him for ten years. Later, Shen Xishan went on a mission and died in a sea of flames. Son 302.5kFavorites263kClicks/ch315.9kGifts

    Curator note

    Another failed graduate of the Heartless Path. Every time the male lead falls in love, the Heartless Path's backlash mechanism is triggered. Then, at night, he holds the female lead while sleeping, and the back of his neck burns more and more intensely. So he holds her even tighter and says, "Go ahead and burn me to death if you dare!" [Laughing and crying emoji]

13. 13 回 Back Before the Villain Turned Dark 回到反派黑化前 Hua Qi画七Romance552k WordsCompleted [The new novel next door, Reuniting with My Ex-Husband After Being Betrayed, is now underway. Feel free to add it to your reading list.] Qiu Shi was in charge of the four seas. She was a noble and cherished little koi princess, a renowned young lady of the Four Wastes, and had an incredibly powerful fiancé to whom she’d been betrothed since childhood. She lived freely and happily until she was thirty thousand, when she rescued a wounded black dragon from the bottom of the sea. The moment she l 279.7kFavorites487.9kClicks/ch147kGifts

    Curator note

    The story is a bit of a reunion after a broken mirror. The female lead was controlled in her previous life, and she and the male lead were childhood sweethearts. They are reborn... The epilogue is incredibly moving; it turns out they have three lifetimes. The female lead being controlled is in the second life. The most touching part is when the male lead finds her in the second life. The female lead, who was once a cheerful and outgoing person, becomes quiet and withdrawn. Everyone around her, including the female lead herself, thinks they (the male and female leads) can never go back to the way things were. But the male lead firmly tells her, "Let's forget all the bad things and go back to the way things were. Let's be together again..." Something like that. It's bittersweet and incredibly sweet (it made me cry). Later, the female lead becomes more cheerful, and one morning the male lead suddenly whispers to her, "I think I've almost brought you back." That made me cry. The cold-faced man washing underwear, the radiant female lead.

14. 14 她EN After She Was Banished from the Marquis's Mansion 她被赶出侯府后 Silk Marionette牵丝偶Romance957k WordsCompleted [The first volume has been published and is available on all platforms] In the fifth year of the Qingyuan era, demons ran rampant. Three months after the death of the Marquis of Jinyang's wife, a new bride entered the household and clashed with his legitimate daughter. A month later, the marquis declared that the girl was not his biological daughter. In consideration of the years he had raised her, he merely cast her out, choosing not to pursue the crime of mistaken bloodlines. Ji Chan was drive 215.7kFavorites235.3kClicks/ch452.7kGifts

    Curator note

    Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful

15. 15 我 I Am the Supporting Female Character in an Explicit Novel 我是限制文的女配 Jun Zi Sheng君子生Romance747k WordsCompleted [The physical book has been retitled Listen to Ling and is now available for preorder. For details, follow Weibo @Jun Zi Sheng JZS] Lin Ting transmigrated into a book, specifically, an explicit novel. She became the female supporting character who secretly loved the male lead but was fated never to have him. In the original story, the supporting character hated the female lead for taking the male lead away from her. By association, she also hated the female lead's elder brother, Duan Ling. Over 409.5kFavorites422kClicks/ch563kGifts

    Curator note

    The traffic was okay, but the female lead's fake death plot felt a bit strange later on, but overall it was alright.

16. 16 我 My Dangerous Wife 我的危险夫人 Returning Mountain Jade归山玉Romance218k WordsCompleted - Among the three Kunlun Mountains, Yunshan Sect Master Song Jixue defies the objections of the entire immortal sect community and marries a woman with a crippled spiritual meridian. In their third year of marriage, the Gate of Earthly Ghosts opens and myriad demons emerge. Lord Yunshan descends the mountain to rescue his dying disciple, only to learn from him that his own wife is one of the demon kings wreaking havoc in the mortal world. Song Jixue does not waver. But more and more evidence p 286.4kFavorites333.2kClicks/ch90.4kGifts

    Curator note

    It's so good, I want to erase my memories and watch it again 555555 The male protagonist's anxiety about separation from the female protagonist

17. 17 拯 Saving the Tragic, Beautiful Male Second Lead 拯救美强惨男二 September Wildfire九月流火Romance921k WordsCompleted [@Jinjiang September Flowing Fire] [A comic and audiobook adaptation with the same title are now available] Luo Han read a xianxia novel where everyone was love-struck and willing to do anything for love. Then she was summoned to transmigrate into a book, where she learned that she was the embodiment of the Heavenly Dao. In the later part of the story, the protagonists waged war for love and nearly destroyed the world. To save herself, she had no choice but to set out to save the world. The best 274.8kFavorites530.7kClicks/ch202.2kGifts

    Curator note

    It's pretty good, a satisfying read.

18. 18 渡21+ Borrowing Yang Energy 渡阳气 Sing of the Wind and Go风歌且行Romance275k WordsCompleted 261.9kFavorites279kClicks/ch131.9kGifts

    Curator note

    Cute and timid female lead & scheming and pretentious male lead The story features excellent transportation and is very engaging. The male lead falls in love with the female lead at first sight, and the side stories from the male lead's perspective are also great, haha. It's a particularly funny story.

19. 19 咬 Cling to You and Never Let Go 咬定卿卿不放松 Gu Lezhi顾了之Romance431k WordsCompleted Yuan Cixian dreamed that years later, the old emperor would have her executed and turn her into a bridge stone. When she woke, she remembered the terror of being under his thumb and resolved to find a powerful protector. Following a strategist’s advice to “give him what he likes,” Yuan Cixian picked up her brush and wrote a love poem to the future emperor’s tutor, Lu Shiqing, hoping to win his favor. Lu Shiqing read the poem and nearly coughed up three pints of blood before storming into Yuan’s 261.8kFavorites390.5kClicks/ch97.9kGifts

    Curator note

    Ancient Chinese romance novels for beginners, read countless times / Female pursuing male, unattainable male lead, face-slapping, contrast

20. 20 当 When the Villain Is Bound to the Female Lead System 当反派绑定了女主系统 Day After Day日日复日日Romance526k WordsCompleted [Publication title: Bound by Light. Preorders open July 24 at 20:00. Follow @JinjiangRifuri] Yu Yi transmigrates into a xianxia novel as its heroine, who suffers both physical and emotional abuse. The story is 800,000 characters long. She's tormented for 700,000 of them, and in the final 100,000, the heroine reconciles with her past, stays true to love, and gets a happy ending with the male lead. Yu Yi absolutely refuses to be a sucker like that. To avoid the main plot, she sticks to the prin 251.8kFavorites409.6kClicks/ch115.1kGifts

    Curator note

    [Rose]

21. 21 穿 Transmigrated as the Cannon-Fodder Female Lead in a Danmei Novel 穿成耽美文炮灰女配 Shu Ning黍宁Romance496k WordsCompleted Jin Xianyu transmigrated into an angsty, melodramatic danmei novel. The bottom in the secondary couple, Yu Longyao, was lowborn, beautiful enough to pass for a woman, calculating and slick. He was the novel’s big bad, the kind of villain who would smile as he destroyed you. The top, Xie Fuwei, was a distant and aloof immortal, lofty and untouchable, with a heart of c 207.2kFavorites409.3kClicks/ch127.2kGifts

    Curator note

    After watching it, I felt that the world still needs to be explored.

22. 22 我 My Husband Is the Sweetest Man Under Heaven 我夫君天下第一甜 Gardenia山栀子Romance467k WordsCompleted [Signed for publication. Follow the author's Weibo, @JinjiangShanzhizi, for the release date.] Qi Cunxin is a kitchen maid in the household of the magistrate of Dongling Prefecture. Every day, she squats in front of the stove and gets herself covered in soot. Her days are dull, and money is tight. She has no choice but to find another job. Whenever she leaves the residence, she goes to wash clothes for the girls at the pleasure house to earn extra money. One day, in the back courtyard of the ple 190.8kFavorites304.1kClicks/ch73.4kGifts

    Curator note

    The cat and baby are so cute (; ;), the baby is the cat's little sun 55555

23. 23 反 Reforming the Villain Couple's Everyday Life 反派夫妇改造日常 Day After Day日日复日日Romance755k WordsCompleted [For publication updates, follow @Jinjiang Ri Fu Ri] The Gu King Yanluo lost his battle against the Sword Venerable Xiaoyang. Mu Zhaoran, the Gu King’s Dao companion, was thrown into a pit of poisonous snakes and Gu worms alongside the despised Poisonous Yanluo, where she was subjected to the punishment of the pit of vipers. At the moment of her death, a vicious female antagonist reform System suddenly descended from the heavens. The System declared that times had changed and mindless female 167.8kFavorites169.4kClicks/ch213.6kGifts

    Curator note

    This is one of the most memorable stories I read this year. I'm still wanting more and wish I could read more side stories! It's so good! [Crying emoji] The female lead is the kind of person who'd move if she's poor and lowly, and submit to power if she's strong and mighty, hahaha. The male lead gets angry after seeing through her, but he's still head over heels in love with her.

24. 24 成 After Becoming the Male Lead's Jilted Fiancée 成为男主退亲未婚妻以后 Daylight Ascending the Tower白日上楼Romance610k WordsCompleted Zheng Wan, the most beautiful woman in the capital, had a father who was the powerful chief minister and a mother from the noble Wang clan of Langya. She had lived proudly for sixteen years. One day, she awoke from a dream and discovered she was living inside a book called Sword Lord. And the little beggar boy she had once beaten and broken off an engagement with was the male lead of the book: Cui Wang, the ruthless cultivator of the Swordless Dao who would one day rule the world and cleave the 161.2kFavorites346.8kClicks/ch138.7kGifts

    Curator note

    Good

25. 25 为 To Ship a Couple, I Decide to Win Over the Immortal Venerable 为了搞CP我决定攻略仙尊 Shu Ning黍宁Romance575k WordsCompleted [Complete. Let it build up before you binge!] In the male-lead-centered novel Seeking the Dao, Xia Lianqiao hates three characters more than anyone else. The first is the cannon-fodder third female lead who shares her name: Xia Lianqiao. The second is the villainous supporting female character, Sima Yuanheng. The third is the heroine's adoptive father, the man who broke up the couple she ships: Ling Chongxiao! Ling Chongxiao is arrogant, emotionless, and without love or hate. He presides ov 138.9kFavorites205.4kClicks/ch94.4kGifts

    Curator note

    Nice

26. 26 金 The Night Watch Keeps No Curfew, and the Long Night Has Yet to Dawn 金吾不禁，长夜未明 Yiren Kui Kui伊人睽睽Romance757k WordsCompleted Also known as The Female General's Dirty Love Story “On New Year's Eve in the eastern capital, the night curfew was lifted, and dawn seemed far away. Tens of thousands had been killed or wounded in distant Yizhou. I returned to the capital with a handful of surviving troops, just as the snow began to fall. Zhang Xingjian handed me a bowl of warm wine and told me I'd worked hard.” “I had never spoken to him, never even shown him a kind face. My younger sister was his fiancée. They were a perfec 92.2kFavorites125.4kClicks/ch63kGifts

    Curator note

    I can't believe how beautiful this is!

27. 27 堕 Fallen Immortal 堕仙 Yiren Kui Kui伊人睽睽Romance1.0M WordsCompleted A beautiful, powerful, tragic witch heroine and a hero who falls into demonic immortality: Jiang Cai is the senior sister of her sect, while Zhang Yening is the senior brother of another sect. Though the two are betrothed, they hardly know each other. In Jiang Cai’s eyes, Zhang Yening must be a cold and aloof immortal seated high above the clouds, free of desire and severed from worldly ties. In Zhang Yening’s eyes, Jiang Cai must be a graceful, heroic fairy in the clouds, the first to appea 63.9kFavorites62.3kClicks/ch38.7kGifts

    Curator note

    Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful

28. 28 男 The Male Lead's Little Brother Is Not Right in the Head 男主的弟弟不正常 Jun Zi Sheng君子生Romance453k WordsCompleted Mu Xuzhi transmigrated into a book with no clearly defined female lead. The male lead, Zhu Lingzhou, was a refined gentleman, as gentle as jade, and also a frail, helpless beauty with a chronic illness who inspired great pity. Mu Xuzhi's mission was to protect him and keep him alive until the end. Zhu Lingzhou had a twin younger brother, Zhu Xuanzhi. He was quite different from Zhu Lingzhou. Zhu Xuanzhi had a twisted, vicious personality and was a lunatic with no empathy. Yet their faces were n 57.3kFavorites48.5kClicks/ch19.7kGifts

    Curator note

    I love it! The male lead's younger brother always felt the female lead was up to no good, constantly being sharp-tongued and wary. Later, he falls for her, and then... (Note: The female lead and the male lead's brother have no romantic feelings for each other.)

29. 29 强 I Forced the Male Lead, Only to Find I'd Got the Wrong Person 强取男主后发现认错人了 The Ultimate Top总攻大人Romance411k WordsCompleted Shen Nanyin, the eldest senior brother of Qiantian Sect, is a heaven-blessed prodigy, graceful and celestial in appearance, and the object of the cultivation world's envy and admiration. Cheng Xueyi, on the other hand, is an ordinary errand-running disciple in Qiantian Sect's service hall. She isn't even qualified to accompany the senior brother on missions. On the surface, the two have nothing to do with each other. In private, however, they often meet beneath the moon to share their innermos 50.3kFavorites60.6kClicks/ch30.3kGifts

    Curator note

    This book has a bit of female-centric abuse of male characters, which is quite satisfying.

30. 30 循21+ Guiding Step by Step 循循 Yiren Kui Kui伊人睽睽Romance671k WordsCompleted 46.8kFavorites49.9kClicks/ch18.8kGifts

    Curator note

    I love this setup! The back-and-forth between the two is so satisfying. The male lead is the kind of upright gentleman, the kind who's well-bred. Then, because the female lead flirts with him, they separate for some reason, and the male lead's personality changes a bit. Later, they reunite, and their back-and-forth continues, resolving misunderstandings, and the male lead demanding a formal commitment from the female lead… In the end, they clear up the misunderstandings and firmly stay together.

31. 31 樱21+ The Season of Cherries and Bamboo Shoots 樱笋时 Yiren Kui Kui伊人睽睽Romance933k WordsCompleted 41.9kFavorites39.2kClicks/ch28.4kGifts

    Curator note

    It's our favorite story of love and hate, a tale of a scoundrel with a true heart, where the female lead encounters a top-tier succubus right after leaving the mountain. The male lead is the type who's quite cunning, exceptionally good at disguising himself, highly intelligent but weak in combat, while the female lead is the pinnacle of combat prowess. This story follows the events after the road trip. The male lead wants the female lead to escort him home, and it's during this journey that he gradually falls for her. Because he's very handsome, he often tries to seduce her, eventually half-heartedly deceiving her into being with him. He maintains a facade of positivity, knowing she's a strong, righteous heroine who wants to protect everyone, but he himself has a darker childhood and only wants to protect those he deems important. For the male lead, the female lead is like a ray of light, a sun, a source of salvation. They separate due to differing values, but the male lead never forgets her, remaining angry and resentful. The story then opens with the female lead returning home, followed by some bittersweet moments between them (mostly the male lead's bittersweetness, haha), the kind of heart-wrenching feeling you get reading.

32. 32 如 How to Humiliate a Cold, Aloof Immortal Master 如何折辱清冷仙长 Shu Ning黍宁Romance302k WordsCompleted [Main story complete. Extra chapters updating slowly] Note: The heroine is in a split-body, amnesiac state for the first few chapters; her true self does not appear. Mu Daoying is the head of the Sword Pavilion at Yuqing Abbey, a once-in-a-millennium prodigy in the entire Donghua Realm. He is an unreachable bright moon. And Liu Qiao’e insists on making him as lowly as dirt. Theme: Keep your heart on the righteous path 35kFavorites29.6kClicks/ch17.3kGifts

    Curator note

    The story features a mix of male and female abuse; I only remember the male and female leads engaging in sexual activity together in a cave for a month or two.

Other lists with The Villainous Couple Are Still Keeping Careful Accounts Today