Novels like From the Start, Just One Dilapidated House, Then I Sweep the Imperial Exams
Books Chinese readers most often put in the same booklists as From the Start, Just One Dilapidated House, Then I Sweep the Imperial Exams, best match first.
- 101 Transmigrated to the Countryside: A Young Farmer's Road to the Imperial Exams 穿越之农家独苗苗的科举之路 [Born into the Past + Farming + Imperial Exams + Fleeing Famine + Warfare] The slow-paced everyday life of a boy from a rural family in ancient times! Zhang Ping'an gets a new lease on life when he transmigrates to an ancient farming family. Fortunately, they are fairly well-off, so no one has to go hungry. He has six older sisters, and he is the only boy his parents had long hoped for. His parents favor sons over daughters, and all six sisters are fierce. He thought he was in for a story about 28.6kReads8.7Score2.7k14d adds
- 102 I Debate the Classics with Great Scholars in the Embroidered Uniform Guard 我在锦衣卫跟大儒辩经 Yang Zhi, a top salesman and philosophy graduate student in his previous life, transmigrates to the end of the Zhengde era of the Ming Dynasty. Through a twist of fate, he joins the Embroidered Uniform Guard, passes the imperial examination, enters the Hanlin Academy, and debates the classics with the great scholars at court! 4.9kReads8.8Score35614d adds
- 103 I Was Reborn in a Farming Novel, but I Don't Want to Pass the Imperial Exams on Talent 穿进种田文里，我不想靠才华科举 Su Congli transmigrated. To stay alive, he studied day and night and threw himself into the imperial examinations. Who could have guessed? At the provincial exam: “What are you staring at, chief examiner?” At the metropolitan exam: “Why do these examiners all seem so strange?” At the palace exam: “Oh! Isn’t that guy sitting in the throne hall the one who stares at me every night?” Emperor Qiyuan prided himself on being a wise ruler of his age, blessed with extraordinary fortune. Who knew he’d ru 10.8kReads8.9Score88914d adds
- 104 I Transmigrated to Ancient Times, but My Brother Seems Even More Like a Transmigrator Than I Do 穿越古代我哥比我还像穿越者 Alternate World / Ancient Era / Farming / Imperial Exams After a plane crash, Chen Jingming transmigrates to ancient times and becomes a farmer's son. His family is split up because they need to pay for his medical treatment, and his older brother goes missing. Later, the eldest brother returns from a long journey and sends him to school. Eldest Brother: “Little brother, our family's honor rests entirely on you!” But later, as he watches the family estate grow, Chen Jingming realizes that the 15kReads9.0Score1.9k14d adds
- 105 A Woman Transmigrates as a Man: A Farmer’s Road to the Imperial Exams 女穿男：农家子的科举青云路 [Female-to-male transmigration + imperial examinations + romance later on + remembered in history + founding the family tree] In her previous life, Qin Huan grew up in an orphanage and worked her way into a university degree. She landed a job at a major company and was on the verge of reaching the pinnacle of success. Her only regret was never having much family to speak of. When she opened her eyes again, she had traveled from modern times to the past, and from a woman to a man. She had become 9.4kReads9.0Score1k14d adds
- 106 A Poor Scholar of Noble Character 一品寒士 [Single heroine, semi-fictionalized Tang Dynasty] In an era when the great aristocratic clans looked down on the imperial family, Zhao Quan was born to a farming family and entered school carrying the hopes of his parents and six older brothers. Farming was out of the question: even the village head’s family had no food to spare… So he had no choice but to take the imperial exams and become an official. 10.4kReads9.3Score91714d adds
- 107 An Ambitious Country Boy's Life in Ancient Times 农家小子的古代上进日常 After transmigrating into the body of a farmer's son in ancient times, a poor student had no choice but to embark on the long road of the imperial examinations to improve his family's life. He sought neither wealth and status nor a high salary or lofty office in this life. All he wanted was to protect his family and give them a peaceful life. 40.2kReads9.2Score3k14d adds
- 108 Imperial Examinations: Reborn, She Took Her Ex-Husband's Steady Job 科举：重生后她抢了前夫的铁饭碗 [Heroine Does Not Disguise Herself as a Man | Civil Service Exams and Government Career | A Name in the History Books | A Strong Heroine Who Grows] In her previous life, Jiang Ruchu was a fallen noblewoman. Her father was faithless, her mother weak. Carrying a keepsake, she married into the prominent local Huo family to repay a debt of gratitude. When her husband entered school, Jiang Ruchu quietly supported him through his studies... She kept a low profile and fulfilled her duties, hoping only 7kReads9.1Score99014d adds
- 109 You Pulled Strings to Make Me a Scholar, and I Passed All Three Exams? 走后门让你成秀才，你连中三元？ The print edition of A Match Made in Heaven is now available. Search for the author's name, Cai Bibi, on major platforms to buy a copy. Su Yu transmigrates to ancient times. On the day he fails the imperial exam for the fifth time, he marries the Princess of Changle, who has disguised herself as an ordinary girl. Before Su Yu can roll up his sleeves and earn a living to support his lovely wife, news of an imperial exam result that had been overlooked suddenly arrives. From then on, the good news 27.9kReads8.7Score2.9k14d adds
- 110 I, Sun Shan, and the Imperial Examinations 我，孙山，科举 “Imperial exams + transmigration + farming + exams + no space System” “Romance included, devoted male lead. The female lead is his childhood sweetheart, but she appears infrequently. Romance is not the main plot.” “The male lead rises step by step through hard work and good luck.” “The male lead is no good at scheming, but he gets things done and has technical skills.” “The imperial examination system is based on the Ming and Qing dynasties.” After an accident, he is transmigrated into the womb 47.4kReads8.8Score3.1k14d adds
- 111 A Woman in a Man's Body: The Concubine-Born Heir's Rise to Power 女穿男，庶房嫡子的逆袭 Now available as an audiobook with a full cast. [Alternate history] + [Woman transmigrates as a man] + [Born into this world] + [Imperial exams and business in the early story] + [Court politics later on] + [One female lead, with a relatively small role] + [A touch of ensemble cast] + [No golden finger] Xie Chengxi was born into another world as the sixth son of the Xie family, a minor family in Bianjing's Grain Transport Guild. His father was the clan's rejected son, kept under pressure for yea 33.5kReads8.3Score3.6k14d adds
- 112 This Top Scholar Plays by His Own Rules 这个状元路子有点野 [Farming + imperial examinations + alternate history + lighthearted] My Parents Flipped the Table and Quit, So I Want to Take the Imperial Exams Too Just as Wang Xuezhou was about to reach the peak of his life, he transmigrated. The good news: in this life, his parents were loving, and his siblings got along. The bad news: the whole family was pinching pennies to fund his eldest uncle's studies. They had next to nothing and were living on coarse grain and wild greens. But before he could flip t 50.9kReads8.9Score6.3k14d adds
- 113 The Poor Scholar's Rise 寒门贵子 After transmigrating into the body of a penniless scholar, Jiang Feng thought about how his computer science degree from his previous life was utterly useless here… Then it occurred to him: “Of all pursuits, studying is the noblest. I’ll just have to grit my teeth and take the imperial exams!” He kept going, and when he suddenly looked back, he had risen to the highest offices, expanded the empire’s borders, and built an unprecedented legacy! P.S. The new book, A Poor Scholar of the First Rank, 34.6kReads9.1Score3.4k14d adds
- 114 I Strive for the Imperial Exams, But My Slacker Dreams Never Change 努力考科举，咸鱼梦想从未改变 [Imperial exams + everyday life + lighthearted] Lu Yang, a rich second-generation heir, wakes up one day as the youngest and most cherished son of the Lu family. This youngest son is a scholar, yet selfish and self-centered, turning a blind eye to his family's sacrifices and caring only about his own future. Lu Yang may be a slacker with little conscience, but he knows who's good to him. He keeps his dream of being a slacker tucked away and works hard to pass the imperial exams, hoping to become 17.6kReads9.1Score1.8k14d adds
- 115 I Turned My Superstitious Father into the Chief Councilor 我把神棍老爹卷成首辅 [Ensemble cast + imperial examinations + daily life + farming + court politics later on] Father and son join forces to build a Ming dynasty on which the sun never sets. Yan Xun transmigrates to the Ming dynasty and discovers that his father can do everything except study. His dad has so many secret identities, like an onion with layer after layer to peel back. Huh! If I push Dad hard enough to make him Grand Secretary, can I become a Junior Grand Secretary? The filial son Yan Xun sells everythin 22.8kReads9.5Score2.8k14d adds
- 116 Can You Believe It? The Frail Beauty Is a Master at Luring Them In 谁懂啊！病美人他超级会钓 [Quick transmigration + seme protagonist + 1v1 + beautiful, powerful, and tragic + two equally matched leads] A gorgeous madman who can really act × fragmented versions of the love interest, each with a different style Song Hemian was an evil spirit who had slept underground for a thousand years. He had been sleeping quite peacefully when, one day, a glowing orb claiming to be the strongest System bound itself to him. The orb: “Look, he's the campus darling at university, but in the end everyone 23kReads9.4Score2.4k14d adds
- 117 From the Start, Disguised as a Man, I Rose to First Rank Through the Imperial Exams 开局女扮男装，我靠科举官居一品 [Disguised as a man + imperial examinations and court intrigue + rises to the highest office + one heroine, focused on her career] When Xie Qingfeng opens her eyes, she's handed a nightmare of a life: a house with bare walls, and a woman forced to disguise herself as a man. In an age when everything is considered inferior to scholarship, if she doesn't fight for her place, she'll be crushed to pieces. Since she's here, she'll give it everything she's got! As a woman, she enters the imperial cour 48kReads9.3Score5.9k14d adds
- 118 My Clan Raised Me to Greatness, So I Gifted Them Purple Robes 全族扶我青云志，我赠族人朱紫袍 After dying suddenly from overwork, workaholic Chen Yan is reborn as the only son of a newly born provincial graduate in the Great Liang Dynasty. His father is successful, so Chen Yan promptly decides to lie flat and enjoy the good life, with food brought to him and clothes laid out for him. But when he learns at the age of six that he was switched at birth with a farmer's child, his life takes a turn. The day the fake young master returns to the Chen family, he goes out to work in the fields an 216.4kReads9.3Score21.7k14d adds
- 119 Ming Dynasty Natives Versus Transmigrators 皇明土著大战穿越众 Current plot: A newcomer to officialdom enters the inner circle as a pawn, but refuses to settle for mediocrity and wants to break free of his constraints. By chance, he gets caught up in turmoil on the frontier, where three hundred battered soldiers rout thirty thousand northern invaders. Zheng Zhi, a household retainer of the Zhen Ding Guard under the Ming rear army's Governor's Office, dreams of himself sixty years in the future. From then on, the Ming Dynasty gains a peerless talent in both 170Reads8.2Score—14d adds
- 120 Master Calligrapher? Poet Immortal? Chief Minister? That's Right, I'm All of Them 书圣？诗仙？首辅？没错，都是我 In his previous life, Cui Xian was a PhD in Chinese Language and Literature at a top-tier university. In this life, he transmigrated to ancient times, into a poor family with no connections: A destitute home, a pregnant mother, young siblings, an uncle who had failed the exams six times and was hopeless at studying, a grandmother so obsessed with imagining her son placing high in the imperial examinations that she had become delusional, and Cui Xian, who was only eight years old. Cui Xian: This 28kReads9.4Score2.7k14d adds
- 121 I Find the Top Scholar So Charming 我见探花多娇媚 Jing Bao has three wishes: First, protect the family estate of the main branch; second, enter the Imperial College, place third in the palace examinations, and bring honor to the family; third, keep living as a man in disguise until the end. Lord Gu has three wishes too: First, help someone protect their family estate; second, help that someone place third in the palace examinations; third, bring the disguised top scorer home and make her the mistress of the household. 4kReads9.4Score73914d adds
- 122 The Alluring Powerful Minister 权臣妖娆 Also known as The Female Top Scorer and The Female Imperial Tutor. He was a celebrated, charmingly elegant top scorer, showered with every favor under the heavens. Only after the Du family was destroyed and he hanged himself in prison did the world learn that “he” was a woman! After her father's death, the family's good name was ruined. Dozens of loyal servants starved to death. The beautiful women of the household were either made into servants or reduced to playthings for officials. Reborn, Du 3.3kReads9.1Score43514d adds
- 123 To Avoid Planting Rice, I Work Hard to Pass the Imperial Exams 为了不插秧，努力考科举 [The short drama adaptation is now streaming] A modern SSS-rank researcher dies suddenly and transmigrates to the Great Xing Dynasty. His health is so poor that he's not allowed to pick rice in the fields until he's six. Sunstruck and light-headed, Li Jing decides that farming with this body is a risky business, so he immediately resolves to study for the imperial examinations. That's what he's good at; the transplanting can be left to the professionals! The following year, now named Li Yiqing, 22.8kReads9.3Score2.2k14d adds
- 124 My Ancestors’ Graves Started Smoking from the Start: Disguised as a Man, I Take the Imperial Exams 开局祖坟冒青烟，女扮男装科举忙 Xie Yuheng transmigrates from the Apocalypse to a farming household, where a tyrant rules the land. With no other choice, she disguises herself as a boy. As she grows older, everyone in the surrounding villages comes to know that the Xie family's prodigy has an exceptionally clever mind. Too bad he's a sickly weakling who can't lift a finger or carry a load. Bystander: “You're so noble, so impressive! Your sickly family member just kicked someone through a wall!” The Xie family: “Does the head o 12.2kReads9.2Score1.7k14d adds
- 125 She Held a Reunion Feast, and the Entire Court Showed Up? 她办个同窗宴，满朝文武都来了？ [Group transmigration + ensemble cast + no System + imperial examinations + everyday academy life in the early story + political intrigue in the middle and later story] (Everyone is highly intelligent and career-driven; the heroine has no romance) An earthquake sent Zhu Lan and her entire class of top students into a book, where they became a notorious group of failures! How could they turn things around? Oh, apparently all they had to do was pass the highest-level imperial exam. What a relief! 10.4kReads9.1Score1.9k14d adds
- 126 Dream of the Red Chamber: A Chancellor of Unmatched Grace 红楼：风华首辅 [No System + intellectual battles + political intrigue + everyday life] Every line is stained with bitter tears, every page filled with absurdity. You might think this is merely a tale of infatuated, indulged young men and women behind closed doors, but who could know that the rise and fall of the world are all intertwined? Are the fortunes of the four great families destined to change? Is the dynasty beset by internal and external threats destined to fall? Must the path to a noble title and hig 43.2kReads9.2Score3.5k14d adds
- 127 Great Qin: My Frail and Delicate Worthy Minister 大秦：我那身娇体弱的贤臣 Female transmigrates as a man + no romance + focused on building a career Zhang Yuanqing transmigrates into the body of a down-on-his-luck noble from the State of Chu during the Warring States period. “System for Great Ministers of the Ages activated. Host, work hard to become one of history's greatest ministers!” Wait, wait, wait. Having a System is a good thing, but what does it mean to become one of history's greatest ministers? It's a given that King Zheng of Qin will unite the six states. A 14.6kReads9.5Score1.6k14d adds
- 128 A Commoner Conquers the Nine Provinces 布衣镇九州 Zhao Ce transmigrates to the Ming Dynasty, becoming an impoverished scholar with a terrible reputation. He also discovers that he borrowed money to get married, then squandered it all, and ended up buying a pitiful little cripple on the way back to make up the numbers. The little cripple has mismatched eyes and is treated like a monster. Zhao Ce: What kind of miserable life is this? A disastrous start? But when he takes another look at the little cripple, so tiny and thin, blinking those big eye 25.9kReads9.2Score2.7k14d adds
- 129 Reborn as a Wicked Foster Mother: I Raised the Villainous Tyrant All Wrong 穿成恶毒养母：把反派暴君养歪了 [No romance + teaching + adorable kids + farming + building wealth + infrastructure] A warm, slice-of-life story Zhang Ziruo transmigrates into the role of the evil adoptive mother of a tyrannical villain, destined for a tragic end. She plans to win the villain’s favor while he is still young, only to discover that he has been reborn... Taking stock of her new circumstances, she decides to open a school and become a teacher! She’ll raise the villain to be a virtuous, capable, open-minded, and po 15.2kReads9.5Score2.2k14d adds
- 130 Imperial Exam Triumph: The Strongest Female Grand Secretary 科举逆袭：最强女首辅 After finally becoming the first female heir in her family, she opens her eyes and finds herself back before the revolution. Her father is dead from the start, leaving her with a frail mother and three beautiful older sisters. She is the only son who can carry on the Cheng family line... Cheng Qing looks down at her slightly developed chest, wondering what on earth went wrong. Surrounded by scheming wolves, Cheng Qing, now with a new soul in her body, sets herself two small goals: First, keep pr 8.2kReads9.5Score1.3k14d adds
- 131 Who Taught You to Be a Brother Like That? 谁教你这么当兄弟的 [The print edition is now available, published under the title Planetary Effect] Chen Zhijuan is the top surgeon in the orthopedics department at Beicheng People's Hospital. He's usually cold and taciturn. Dr. Chen is strikingly handsome, and his crisp, slender figure in a white coat gives off an air of restraint. The girls chasing after him could circle the hospital three times. Too bad his heart belongs to someone else. He's been secretly in love with his best friend for nearly ten years. The 83.9kReads9.3Score12.4k14d adds
- 132 EN Impostor of the Langya Clan 冒姓琅琊 (Also known as “The Matter of Me Pretending to Be a Nobleman of the Southern Dynasties”) To transmigrate isn’t a dinner party. It’s a deadly game at every turn. The south is beautiful, yet lofty ambitions often fade away. Since ancient times, the Southern Dynasties have been weak, their heroes short-lived. No golden finger, no System, and no second chance at life. Everything starts from zero! Original owner’s memories: none! Identity: none! Supplies: none! When transmigration becomes reality, ho 497.6kReads9.7Score72.9k14d adds
- 133 With the Notable Ministers System in Hand, I Disguise Myself as a Man in Ancient Times 手拿名臣系统，我在古代女扮男装 Xu Yue transmigrates into a book. She becomes the delicate, vulnerable cousin of the male lead in an examination-themed novel: her mother died young, she has no brothers and no one to rely on, and her family won't take her in, so she is awkwardly forced to live in the male lead's home. In her previous life, Xu Yue rose from being an orphan to earning a doctorate. She never believed in fate, and even though it was hard for women to get by in ancient times, she never stopped thinking about how to 119.8kReads9.6Score11.5k14d adds
- 134 Even as a Fake Heiress, I’ll Still Daringly Embrace Doing Nothing 就算是假千金也要勇敢摆烂 [Print edition launching across all platforms on August 9, 2025] When Shen Yue was twelve, she accidentally fell into a pond while feeding the fish. That was when she learned the truth: her parents weren’t her real parents, and her five older brothers weren’t really her brothers. She was the Mu family’s fake heiress! Faced with a future where she was destined to lose everything, Shen Yue decided to get ahead… by lying down. If she was going to lose it all anyway, she might as well lie back and 117kReads9.6Score13.7k14d adds
- 135 The Ninth Special Zone 第九特区 After the catastrophe, the land was scarred beyond recognition. Food was scarce, resources were in short supply, and the situation was chaotic... A young man who had fought his way out of an undeveloped zone, with endless yellow sand at his back, came alone to District Nine to make a living. Yet he never expected to meet a few good friends by chance, rise to prominence in the chaotic era over a single thought, and embark on a legendary journey... 210.7kReads9.6Score22.6k14d adds
- 136 Teacher Chang Mao 长矛老师 Originally titled “You Sell Swords, I Go Crazy: Together, We Set the Entertainment Industry Straight” [Rebellious CEO × Defiant Top-Tier Star] [Entertainment industry + absurd comedy + dating show + nonsense + memes + shameless antics] Jiang Qiyu transmigrated into a book. She became a brainless cannon-fodder character in a novel about a fake heiress in the entertainment industry. After taking a phone call, she realized the plot was already more than halfway through. Her family had abandoned he 105.6kReads9.7Score12.2k14d adds
- 137 EN Too Many Reborn Heroes? Time to Bring in the Government 重生者太密集？我带国家队下场 (A feel-good power fantasy, with a beautiful, badass heroine who confiscates golden fingers) “Sheng is the boss around here. She's ruthless and doesn't waste words. Cross her, and she'll take you down!” In the year 2323 of the Star Era, the apocalypse is about to begin. Some people awaken their powers early, while reborn people are already making their moves… As the head of a new department, Sheng An is responsible for recruiting and leading all the powered and reborn individuals, preparing for 123.7kReads9.7Score17.5k14d adds
- 138 EN Misty Rain Tower 烟雨楼 [The print edition is now available nationwide at all major retailers] "Traditional xuanhuan" "No harem" In the land of Jiuzhou stands a tower called the Misty Rain Tower. Its master, Li Qingzhi, is hailed as a peerless prodigy, holding life and death in his hands beneath the cover of night. Yet what the world doesn’t know is that someone else stands behind the Misty Rain Tower, its true founder. Using the guise of a spoiled young master as cover, he manipulates the winds and clouds and plots ac 868.8kReads9.6Score66.1k14d adds
- 139 EN I'm Not a God of Theater 我不是戏神 The brand-new masterpiece by San Jiu Yin Yu, author of Slay the Gods | Winner of the Best Science-Fiction Web Novel Award at the Macau International Science Fiction Awards | A Chinese grotesque epic that turns the tide of an era After a scarlet meteor streaked across the sky, human civilization ground to a halt. From that day onward, humanity could no longer build a rocket, a nuclear bomb, an airplane, a car... The pyramid of civilization built upon modern science collapsed with a thunderous roa 1.7MReads9.9Score178.8k14d adds
- 140 EN Ten Days to the End 十日终焉 2024 Tomato Novel Annual Peak Rankings TOP 1 | 2024 China Online Literature Influence List | 2024 China Good Novel Award | Over 2 million copies sold (No harem, no formulaic tropes, no invincibility, no System, no mindless antics, no wish fulfillment. Read with caution if these bother you.) Just when I thought it was an ordinary day, I discovered I had been captured and taken to the End. Just when I thought I could escape by continually taking part in death games, people began awakening supernat 1.7MReads9.9Score206.4k14d adds
