The Beauty in the Bedchamber

[Historical romance, household intrigue, black lotus heroine, play the pig to eat the tiger. Original title: Wan Chun. A slow-paced, traditional household-intrigue story, with more focus on family scheming than romance.] Jiang Wanchu, the daughter of a man’s concubine, is brought back to the family estate by her legitimate mother. Everyone assumes she’s become putty in her mother’s hands, there to be bullied and tormented however they please. No one knows that Jiang Wanchu has entered the game willingly, playing the pig to eat the tiger and throwing the Jiang household into turmoil, all to uncover the truth behind her full sister’s tragic death. There is her hypocritical, sanctimonious stepmother; her arrogant but foolish eldest sister; her selfish, shallow half-sister; and the person hiding behind them, shrewd and playing the pig to eat the tiger just like her. Jiang Wanchu tears off their masks and destroys the things they’re proudest of. Everyone who once looked down on her ends up on their knees, begging for forgiveness. Jiang Wanchu sneers. “Hah, you regret it now? Too late!” Xu Lanzhi stands behind her with a smile, his eyes full of affection. But Jiang Wanchu repeatedly rejects him and keeps dodging him. “You can’t give me what I want.” He, however, is shameless and persistent, pursuing her until she has nowhere left to run. As Jiang Wanchu’s face grows redder, his eyes sparkle like stars as he murmurs softly, “How will you know unless you try?”