#rebirth of the malicious empress of military lineage

[dangermousie]

A danmei lover's biased and incomplete het web novel rec list

@mercipourleslivres thanks for inspiring me!

When it comes to Chinese web novels, I mainly read danmei. I tend not to care too much for OP heroine with a hero who dotes on her for no reason as she fights with 14 year olds narratives, nor inner courtyard fights. BUT!!! There are some het web novels I like and so here is my biased and incomplete rec list. Most of these don't have OP heroines, and very little to none courtyard fights.

Before I start, my favorite het web novel authors are: Gong Xinwen, Mo Shu Bai, Peng Lai Ke, and Jiu Lu Fei Xiang. I have yet to read anything bad by them.

Anyway, rec list:

1000 Miles of Bright Moonlight - one of my ultimate favorites, this would make such an epic drama! A smart as hell heroine, a hero who is a monk and a warrior (but also terminally?) ill and such a vivid world and amazing secondary characters (heroine’s brother is possibly my favorite supporting character of all time) and so much angst and happy ending. This has an amazing romance but it’s not romance-centric if it makes sense - ML doesn’t appear for a while. But once he does, it’s worth it!

Accompanying the Phoenix - the one that just got adapted into The Legend of Shen Li, this is high adventure and cottage core and funny and tragic and powerful ML being putty in the hands of capable FL and just EVERYTHING.

Apocalypse Arrival - Gong Xinwen’s novels are made just for me. Her heroines are always powerful as fuck and rescue abused MLs. In this novel, our heroine who lives in the post-apocalyptic world, wakes up right before that apocalypse happens. She forms a survival crew and also rescues ML who has miraculous blood and has been drained of it and is now hunted after the rescue for it. SO GOOD!!!

Black Moonlight Holds the BE Script - so fucked up, so good, with monster hero who learns to love and be human and heroine who learns to love and be human (but from the other side, her tower of perfection.) Much better than the drama which I did enjoy.

The Blue Whisper - the drama was so-so, but the novel is a bona fide angst masterpiece, which really delves into what it feels like to be imprisoned or to love.

Counterattack of the Cannon Fodder Chambermaid - I remember starting this and loving the realistic feel and the heroine and wanting to stab the hero and @mercipourleslivres telling me to be patient. She was right, by the end I was on board with both the hero (who was abused and is rather autistic-coded) and the OTP. Anyway, heroine is a servant who was a concubine in the last life and got killed as part of a rich family’s harem intrigues. In this life, she just wants to keep her head down but her life gets derailed anyway. She gets sold away and eventually made a servant in the household of an exiled prince who takes a fancy to her and she endures it because what choice does she have? All she wanted was to serve out her term and become a small time merchant. This is quite realistic about lack of options for women, especially lower class women or upper class male attitudes (ML is never vicious or mean to FL but it does not initially occur to him to wonder if she fancies him or enjoys being his concubine or w/e.) It is a DELIGHTFUL slow burn tho as they grow to love each other and grow together and become one of the most wholesome cnovel couples out there.

Dandere General and His Lord - hi there, Gong Xinwen! God, I love this one. Heroine transmigrates from modern world into a brutal slave-holding world at war (think something like Warring States era.) Our heroine transmigrates into the body of a noblewoman who just hung herself. When she comes to, she discovers that woman’s twin brother was the ruler of a city poisoned by a rival claimant and the besieging army of said claimant is about to take the city and original occupant of the body and the rest of the family chose suicide as a way to avoid dishonor. Our heroine refuses, schemes with advisors to pass as the brother and rally the troops. Once the invaders are defeated, she keeps on the masquerade and rides off to one of the never-ending wars “she” is summoned to. Our hero couldn’t be farther from this. A slave and a son of a slave, he’s escaped a horrific, starving childhood during which he narrowly avoided being murdered or raped, and ended up in the army. When the story opens, he distinguished himself in battle and as a reward, he and a few of his fellow slave warriors are invited to a banquet, where they are given some alcohol and to be playthings of any nobles who want them. One of them does not survive this but ML is lucky - heroine feels terrible and so “claims” him for herself. Instead she just tends to his wounds and sends him back. She does not fancy him or anything, she is just a human being with a conscience. And the story goes from there.

Demon King's Repayment - another delicious Gong Xinwen tale with a powerful ML dedicated to capable FL. This one is a great fantasy plot (I keep imagining it as an animated series) and a sprawling cast of amazing secondaries (and secondary OTPs - there is, I swear, an OTP that is Dong Hua x Feng Jiu done thru GXW lens) to boot.

Doomed to Be Cannon Fodder - I hesitated to put this one on the list because by the end I was not keen on how misogynistic novel got to original female lead but it was one of my earliest novels and I loved it for 90% and it’s fucking hilarious at times. Heroine transmigrates as bit villainess into a novel, all she wants is not to die, but her new attitude of “pls stay away” catches the attention of her terrifying general husband. Honestly, imo still worth it.

Dreamer in the Spring Boudoir - my n1 novel on this list, smart and fierce and don’t really read this for romance because it does not start until really late, but ice cold heroine x ice cold hero both of equal brains and ruthlessness is everything. I went from loathing the ML to finding him fascinating to adoring him (and yet he softened around the edges only for FL, he never became “nice”) and loved FL throughout; secondaries are epic. If you read only one non-danmei web novel, make it this one.

The Emperor’s Beloved Ugly Girl - my n2 novel on this list. Our heroine is the unlucky laundry maid A’Chou. She is a di daughter of an upperclass family but her family got destroyed in one of the political upheavals of the time and A’Chou, only a small child at the time, was the only survivor and was made an enslaved laundry maid. Due to various events, at the start of the novel she is a laundry maid in a minister’s household and the minister’s beloved daughter is having a fit because she’s supposed to marry the former Crown Prince which may have been great a few years back but Crown Prince had since been deposed, tortured, imprisoned and now is living in the middle of nowhere under conditions that are too meager to be called house arrest. And he’s seriously crippled too. Understandably, the young lady doesn’t want to marry him! She’d rather kill herself and so she does. And so, a desperate plan is hatched - why don’t we pretend the laundry maid is the di daughter of the minister’s household and send her off? And so A’Chu is sent as the bride. She arrives to discover a broke, seriously injured man on the verge of death…and we go from there. This is so gorgeous and tender and slow in just the right way and like AAAAAA! Secondary OTPs (one of which is MM) are also epic.

Futu Tower - the drama (Unchained Love) was a mess but the novel is such a lovely, dark exploration of coming back to life, for the ML from his dark revenge-strewn path and for heroine from not being allowed wishes of her own. She is a tribute bride, he’s a (fake) eunuch, they are both servants who use themselves to achieve goals and find peace and happiness together.

The Grand Princess - a tale where both members of the OTP reincarnate as their younger selves after killing each other in their 50s, and get a new start, this is smart and slow and so good in portraying old souls in young bodies. Their rediscovery of not just each other but themselves and their passion for living is just AAAAAA!

Heroine Saves Gentleman - Gong Xinwen novel so we have a tough martial artist lady saving a very upper class scholar and it goes from there. If elegant gorgeous ML being saved and protected (and lovingly dommed) by awesome FL is your bag, pls come right in.

Husband Be a Gentleman - schemer meet schemer. He’s an idle prince she’s perfect daughter, in reality both are wolves out for blood. Mmmm. Very OTP gets together early and is us against the world.

I’ll Be the Male Lead’s Sister in Law - one of my all time favorite novels. Heroine is made to marry a disabled nephew of the emperor. He used to be a victorious god of war but went mad and now is basically locked away and kept as a beast. GOD I LOVE THIS NOVEL SO MUCHHHHH! So much hurt/comfort and awesome OTP and after he eventually recovers, all he wants to do is to fight and murder things and dote on wifey. MMM. He’s honestly one of my fave MLs.

I Married a Disabled Tyrant After Transmigrating - if you have a Florence Nightingale complex, this is for you. Heroine wakes up as tribute bride to an almost dead dragon lord and slowly nurses him back to life as his rivals try to murder him. They are both utter adorable babies!

Let the Villain Go - another Gong Xinwen novel, this and Apocalypse Arrivals are AUs of each other. Heroine is surviving in the apocalypse, ML is the “bugbear” of the world but in reality just reacting to all abuse and torture and after she accidentally saves him, devotes himself. Fun fun fun!

Long Wind Crossing - Amazing ML and FL who grow together, clever plot, arranged marriage to love etc etc. Oh, and one point he feeds her his blood to keep her alive, what’s not to love? (Adapted into Chang Feng Du/Destined)

Lost You Forever - this is a short but delicately wistful tale of trauma and loss and love, wrapped in a high fantasy setting but so relatable despite it.

Love In Another Life: My Gentle Tyrant - so so fucked up in the best way! ML cannot live with OR without heroine. It opens on them banging in jail night before her execution (ordered by him) with corpses of men he killed for trying to defile her cooling nearby. If you want healthy relationships with respectful boundaries, gentle and considerate male leads who are modern men in period clothes, OP heroines who have everyone help them and are OP to the max, fluff and wholesomeness, that is about the worst book for you.If you want complexity, dysfunction, darkness, pain and an absolutely lyrical even if fucked up story, come right IN!!!!I am so fucking in love with the melancholy heroine, with ruthless psycho hero and the endless regret and devotion and paaaaain!

The Marquis Is Innocent - our heroine is a beautiful woman married to a warlord who hates her family. (Yes, this was gonna be The Prisoner of Beauty until SZE tax scandal.) Except she's a transmigrator from the future who knows how it ended last time around and has no interest to end up this tragically. This is in my top 5 - FL is smart but believably so (and doesn't have super battle powers) and ML is a believable period warlord. The way their relationship develops so gradually and the way his character changes so gradually as well (and the way they slowly fall in love, her slower than him) is just amazing. It is such a smart, nuanced, gorgeous slow burn. With some gonzo sex scenes :P

Mulberry Song - you like tragic endings? Come right IN! This is short and heartbreaking and wistful and very what-if.

Nightfall (Ever Night) - so long but also so smart and unusual and bloody and tho it’s not primarily a romance, you will never see another ML who loves his FL as much as Ning Que does his Sang Sang. 

Offering Salted Fish to Master - in some ways, this novel is a mess, but I am recommending it because this is a rare example of "nope he's 100% a villain and murderdude and odd, but he does love the heroine" that the author commits to.

Pihanjin - yet another awesome PLK novel, this is once again, like with Marquis, a ruthless man and a beautiful woman getting a second chance on a second go-around. FL is a lot more wounded this time around though. If you LOVE watching ML grovel and slowly, gradually win FL over, this one is for you.

Princess Agents - a dark tale with an incredibly competent and militarily powerful/ruthless heroine and two terrifying men who love her (but neither is as terrifying as she is.) There is an OTP switch halfway through that shockingly makes sense and it's just SO SO GOOOOOOOD

Rebirth of the Malicious Empress of Military Lineage - this is probably the one “typical” novel on this list, heroine is reborn as her youngest self and gets revenge on those who wronged her last time around. It is really really well-written and heroine is competent, hero is doting and powerful etc. It’s not a trope I tend to love but I do when it’s done THIS well.

Rebirth of the Tyrant’s Pet: Regent Prince is Too Fierce: Borgias cnovel style! Our heroine was empress in last life and put her husband on the throne tho he did not love her. However, he had her executed and had his half-brother carry out the orders and heroine died horrifically. She opens her eyes and she’s a little girl again. The OTP this time around is heroine and half-brother executioner. Why do I love it? Heroine is smart and tough but also this is a rare rebirth novel where heroine does NOT decide to seek revenge for past life wrongs because they haven’t happened yet! In fact, she sees ML abused and stands up for him because he’s a kid and no kid should be mistreated and this go around he hasn’t done anything wrong. She also gets and likes her former life husband. Anyway, this is fakecest galore because she’s supposed to be their half-sister and while she knows (from past life) she is not, they do not and fall for her anyway. ML is especially gonzo, at one point carving chunks of his flesh to save her. He’s feral and unhinged and she’s the one person he worships because she protected him and like - it’s all awesome. (I love secondary ML too.)

Reborn to Love Lord Qiansui - yes, this is a eunuch novel! If you like gender tropes reversals, this one is for you. Heroine is a tough martial artist, hero is a smart as hell and powerful eunuch. A real eunuch. Heroine finds out she owes him her life and decides to protect him. This is a total delight and an awesome love story between two really scarred people. And yes, there is sex - heroine literally reads manuals on pegging :P

Return of the Swallow - so freaking long! But really good. Heroine is neither transmigrator nor reincarnator, just a smart period woman. She is a lost family daughter taken back in. Her father is a minister in a dying empire (father-daughter relationship is one of the best things in this novel), her OTP is enemy general, and the smartness and the awesomeness of this all knows no bounds.

Seven Unfortunate Lifetimes - probably the wackiest JLFX novel I read, this is quite different from Love You Seven Times drama that was adapted from it. Our deity protagonists go through a bunch of lives figuring out they fancy each other. It's light like a souffle but just as delicious.

To Be a Virtuous Wife - some people prefer 8 treasures trousseau but I never warmed up to that one. This one is so good, with smart people (who actually enjoy sex, a ratity) and a perfect mix of plot and romance.

Transmigrator Meets Reincarnator - my very first web novel. A lot lighter than a lot of the ones on this list but a total delight. Heroine transmigrates into a novel as the heroine; she has no interest in drama or chasing true love, she just wants to live a nice life with her nice husband. Too bad for her, her husband has reincarnated into his younger self and remembers how she betrayed him, so is not interested. This one is funny and light and romance doesn’t start till late on but a total delight!

Wishing You Eternal Happiness - this is tied with Dreamer as my favorite het web novel ever though it couldn’t be more different from Dreamer, with its hard-edged and hard-souled protagonists ruthlessly cleaving their way to the world and, eventually, each other, its smart cynical air. Except in one thing - the world of Wishing is just as bloody and dark. Its two protagonists are gentle, deeply wounded souls who may find salvation in each other but even something as basic as safety almost seems out of reach.

Jliafu, our heroine, is neither a modern-day transmigrator, nor some exotic princess or demoness. She is very much a period woman of her time, from a weathy merchant clan, whose beauty is her curse. You can tell the novel’s tone from that utterly bleak opening chapter where she, a favorite concubine of a capricious dying emperor, is ordered to be buried alive with him and is not even given the “grace” of white silk but slowly suffocates in the coffin, scrabbling at the lid. There is no grand threats of vengeance on her part, not dramatic opera events. Just despair and death. The whole introductory chapter is haunted by emotional ghosts - the empress’ unrequited love for the monster on the imperial bed (turning into desire for Jiafu’s suffering after he dies), the emperor slowly dying in his prime after waging too many wars, and his fear of being haunted by Pei Youan, a brilliant if sickly minister who died of illness long ago on one of imperial campaigns. There is no triumph for anyone, only loss.

When she wakes up as still a young woman, all she wants is to escape the same fate. There are no plans for power or revenge, only a desire for survival. And so she latches on asking for help from Pei Youan, the only man in her past go-around who showed any consideration and desire and ability to protect her, though he barely knew her. Pei Youan is probably my favorite het web novel ML. Despite his brains and ability, he drifts through life. In modern terms, he clearly has depression. One of the biggest, best joys of the novel is watching these two very good, very quiet, very wounded people discover happiness and love with each other. I sort of want to cry just thinking about it, tbh.

The Yandere Came During the Night - a bit of fluff that’s oddly delightful. Heroine is reborn as a (fake) sister of ML, she hurts her legs saving him and the “siblings” form a bond that ends up in fakecest delight. They are both smart and efficient and he becomes a sexy marquis etc.

[smittenskitten]

I approve of Qian Shan Cha Ke's obsession with male lead's waist

And letting those waist be grabbed

[audreypancakes]

Just reading my first cnovel ever!! I didn't research a lot (yet - the whole world is so confusing af), and I hope this is a complete translation (tho I think it is?) - but I ended up picking The Rebirth of the Malicious Empress.

40 chapters in, I enjoy it. It's very slow-burn (so idk if it was the right choice for a first-time reader, but welp). OTP have been in same room like 3 times and interacted twice? I'm mostly watching for Shen Miao's awesome self - like girl is so effing cold and composed.

One thing I so enjoy is everyone being so confused that the "gaudy" girl they knew is suddenly this elegant, well-spoken lady. She's so composed and super smart! I so enjoy how she couldn't care less about the petty squabbles her classmates have, even when they insult her.

"When Shen Miao now looked at the youths in Guang Wen Tang, she felt that she was looking at children like Fu Ming and Wan Yu and could not muster any feelings of anger or annoyance. Other than Shen Qing and Shen Yue, who were two-faced villains, most of them were just spoilt children. And all these spoilt young ladies and men would encounter a cruel fate in the next ten years time."

When she notes how they're just children - not even as old as her own children.. damn. And the way she notes that it's the Emperor who's causing the disharmony between all of the aristocratic families, so none of them get strong enough to challenge him.

" It was because these aristocratic families were provoked deliberately by the Emperor to pit one against the other that they did not keep in close contact with each other. Some even regarded the other with hatred."

It's just so interesting, how she notes this. And almost every single person she meets in school? She lists their bad endings in her head, and the blame can be put on the Emperor, who's so terrified of the aristocratic families. I assume it's because he doesn't want anyone strong enough to challenge his clan. (please get dethroned!!)

[forursmiles]

my favorite thing about rebirth of the malicious empress of military lineage, Rebirth of the Ill-Fated Consort and Marriage of the Di Daughter is that the female leads are so blood thirsty and just here to wreak havoc and avenge their families with no desire for romance while the male leads are head over heels in love with them and want to do anything they can to help which usually including a lot of murder. like chef’s kisses for this pairing/trope

[shangyangjunzhu]

also will the rebirth of the malicious empress of military lineage ever be filmed? we don’t know the cast yet...which makes me very antsy...

[lutawolf]

Rebirth of the Malicious Empress of Military Lineage

Has anybody else read this? I loved it so much! Is there a BL book that is similar???

[dancerkai94]

谢景行连忙一把搂住她给她顺毛，道：“梦里的我最后不也是相信了你，带着你回了大凉，可见我心中只有你一个的。”又摸着下巴不爽道：“不过那小子真是好福气，你居然主动亲他。” 沈妙：“……” 自己吃自己的醋，普天之下也就只有谢景行才能干出来了。 “既然如此，我必然要为夫人赔罪。”谢景行正色道，突然一把打横将沈妙抱起：“冷落夫人该死，今天夫人可以为所欲为。” “喂，初一十五……” “让奶娘看着。”谢景行抱着她转身往外走，唇角却忍不住扬起，道：“虽然梦里的那个人很可恶，不过有一件事也没说错。” 沈妙看他：“什么事？” “千千万万种可能里，我都只会选择你，只有你。”他说。

epilogue

[shenlis-spear]

On another note not related to TLOS, I hope that they'll just leave alone The Rebirth of the Malicious Empress of Military Lineage. With the current situation, they'll never ever give justice to that masterpiece and it's better not to ruin it with an adaptation. (And this is coming from someone who was so excited when the adaptation was confirmed ages ago.)

[mxtxfanatic]

Book of the Week: Rebirth of the Malicious Empress of Military Lineage

Author: Qian Shan Cha Ke (千山茶客)

Genre: ancient setting, josei

Rating: M (very mature, dark themes but not too graphic of depictions)

My Synopsis: What happens when a girl gets tired of being nice and decides to go apeshit? You get Shen Miao, our adorable 30+ year-old protagonist recently stuffed back into her 14-year-old self and ready to eat the flesh and drink the blood of her enemies! Using this new lease on life, she’ll methodically and maliciously ruin every antagonist’s life using the tools in her versatile skillset, including: knowledge of the future, a psychological understanding of assholes, weaponized gender stereotypes, and men. And lest we forget our love interest, Xie Jing Xing: the boy/man (cause god forbid the author know how old anyone BUT Shen Miao is…) who thought he had it all figured out until he discovered that Shen Miao is a horny drunk. See just how far they’ll go to bathe in the blood of their enemies while keeping their loved ones safe in this very long but extremely satisfying novel.

My Actual Review: It’s so satisfying to see a previously downtrodden character scheme her way into a happy ending, and Shen Miao fucking deserves it. Some reviews that I’ve seen have claimed that the LI eventually takes over her revenge schemes, but I didn’t see it. They just partner up and she uses his manpower to do what she wants. There are also places where their separate goals intersect, so it just makes more sense for him to do the cleanup. The thing about Shen Miao is that she has no issues with letting others do the work for her, especially if it’s against people she wasn’t invested in putting work against to begin with. It’s the empress in her, I fear. As for the main pair as a couple, I loved their every interaction, and their descent into romance felt natural and gratifying. Greatest thing about this romance is the fact that it truly kicks off because Xie Jing Xing did not know to guard against horny drunk Shen Miao lmao!

The translation is pretty good outside of some clunky grammar, but once you train your eyes to glaze over the the five-millionth time the translator inserts directly into the story to complain about how often the LI is described as hot (unlike every other character, I guess???) as if this book is their early 2000s fanfic, it gets even better! Another thing that may or may not be here nor there is that this author is really weird with age consistency. Like, “MC is forever un-aging while everyone else ages 2 years every few months” weird. Shen Miao is forever 14 until the time skip in which she is forever 16, while Xie Jing Xing goes from “the same age as the students” to “17/18ish” to “vaguely in his 20s” during the same course of time where we literally never see Shen Miao acknowledge a birthday in any year. As for more serious content warnings, this story involves underage relationships (including non-explicit sex, marriage, and pregnancy), rape as a weapon, (assumed) incest between cousins, child abuse, and described but not explicitly shown torture. Though there are some humorous parts, this is not a lighthearted story. Read if you want something dark with an ultimate happy ending.

Translation: complete

[january-summers]

What media are you into at the moment? 👀

#randomask hehe

Bringing back ask culture? heck yeah!

Well, I'm currently coming down off a Red Vs Blue hyperfixation. (Halo based mechanima series)

Just finished season 2 of Leverage Redemption, so still in the mood for that. (western live action series)

Currently making my way through Team Starkid's backlog. I'm on Nightmare Time at the moment. (filmed stage theater, though Nightmare Time was more radio drama done over skype.)

My group watch server is doing a watch of Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty, which is a rewatch for me but I love this found family of crime solving disasters. (Chinese live action series)

And I'm waiting for the next episode of Tearmoon Empire to come out. (anime, villainess regression/do over) I read the manga for it online, but I'm not totally caught up, I think there's a bunch more chapters since I last read it.

Oh, and, and, there's this Cdrama, The Rebirth of the Malicious Empress of Military Lineage, that I'm super excited about but I don't know when it's supposed to come out. Rumours say there's problems with production and even the cast list isn't certain.

If we're talking flat genres, villainess is my favourite genre atm, with transmigration/isekai and regression/do-over battling it out to topple her.

I haven't been reading a lot of books lately, mostly just fanfics and webcomics.

[dangermousie]

Finally, after years, some movement on the adaptation of Rebirth of the Malicious Empress of Military Lineage, a rare het webnovel I adore.

If this casting becomes true, I am surprisingly pleased. My rewatch of The King's Woman reminded me that Dilraba can be vvv good when she wants to be, and while I don't tend to buy her as an avenging non-stop warrior (so was not happy with that rumor of her being cast as some sort of demon general in a drama thing), she can play Shen Miao, who is more elegant and scheming and not non-stop consumed with grief and/or rage and/or vengeance.

And Deng Wei has got a lot of good will from me for LYF and he's certainly pretty enough to be the ML and can portray him just fine.

So bring it on!

[smittenskitten]

Google voice assistant might sound robotic and unfeeling but this is one of my favorite thing when I wanna read books and can't stare at the screen too long

I read/listened to two books in the last two weeks. Now on to the third one

Qian Shan Cha Ke really caters to my niche in this genre by continuing writing about rebirth revenge stories 🤌🤌

[yanniangniang]

Thanks for answering my ask.....if you don't mind me asking (again), who are your favorite romantic relationship's couples in books/ manga/ anime/movies/tv series (can be canon or non-canon)? Why do you love them? Sorry if you've answered this question before......Thanks....

Hi again! No, thank you for asking! This was a fun ask to receive! 🌺

Sephiroth/Cloud Strife (Final Fantasy VII, non-canon): Most extreme case of 'never meet your idols' lol Ah, the homoeroticism of being mortal enemies :) I enjoy the poetry of Cloud, sixteen years old and three whole ounces of whoop ass, stabbing and throwing the man he used to consider his hero into a mako pit. Sephiroth obsessively haunting Cloud like a fucked up ghoul and constantly trying to girlboss gatekeep gaslight his way to complete world domination is also very fun to me. Sephiroth latching onto Cloud's memories of him as a way to keep his own identity of self...Also, I simply cannot get over Sephiroth looking at the man who killed him with BEDROOM EYES and spewing the most homoerotic shit imaginable (like, what do you mean "don't deny me, embrace me"!!! is this a game to you!??!). Anyway, I just think they're neat :)

Yan Xiaohan/Fu Shen (Golden Terrace, canon): All time favorite! Political rivals to power couple! I love these two so much. They're so romantic, their affection felt like sugar injected straight into my veins haha. I can't even come up with a single thing I love about them because I simply love everything about them! They're peak romance?? Listen, if you are interested in novels set in a historical setting, I am holding your hands and BEGGING you to purchase Golden Terrace. It's such a good novel, you won't regret it!

Yan Zhengming/Cheng Qian (Liu Yao: The Revitalization of Fuyao Sect, canon): Now, these two! No matter, no matter what, I always go back to these two. This is one of my comfort ships, mostly because they are so entertaining! Their characters are so different, yet at their core, they have the same values and goal, so it is very fun to watch how these two's clashing personalities actually compliment each other. Plus, they're just very funny, okay?? PRIEST is a comedian lol

Xie Jingxing/Shen Miao (The Rebirth of the Malicious Empress of Military Lineage, canon): The epitome of couples who scheme together stay together! Their evolution was gradual and so satisfying to me. I enjoyed how they went from scheming acquaintences who could barely stand each other (like, I know for a fact that my girl Shen Miao fantasized having Xie Jingxing dragged off to be executed for the unforgivable crime of being a meddling annoyance—deserved lol) to allies with grudging respect towards each other and a common goal to a devoted power couple who brought a country to its knees. Xie Jingxing's constant sneaking into Shen Miao's bedroom dead into the night to plot/banter/play qi/press her buttons until she's gnashing her teeth is something i remember very fondly lol.

[forursmiles]

I read rebirth of the malicious empress of military lineage and I see that you have read some of the author's other works. Can you recommend which one I should read next.

Yay glad that other people are getting into this author's work because it is amazing.

My ranking for the novels is

Rebirth of the Ill Fated Consort This book was significantly more bloody and dark but the characters were just chef's kisses. Like Jiang Ruan is probably one of my favorite characters of all time. I think the fact that she never wavered in her desire for revenge was amazing. The story and romance is just done a lot better in this book. also I love that the ML is just there to help in Jiang Ruan's schemes and that she is the true brains. She was such a strong yet vulnerable character just amazing all round.

Marriage of the Di Daughter This story is slightly different from the other two because it is a reincarnation story instead of rebirth so it does take some time to get into the story compared to the others. but as always the characters are amazing!!! I would say the romance in this is a bit more playful and fun. Story is just as revenge driven but had more light moments.

Rebirth of the malicious empress of military lineage This is the first novel I read by the author and was blown away. Loved both the leads but what I noticed after reading the other two books was that while the main female lead was great she got sooo much help from the ML which isn't bad because we saw them work together but it took a little of the satisfaction away. also the ending was good but average. I think if you only read Rebirth of the malicious empress of military lineage from the author it would be amazing but after reading the other two books which I feel like the author must have written afterwards you can see the growth in her writing skils

[phoenixtakaramono]

For the wip game, the untold tale ch6? I will not lie it is because im obsessed but also this chapter includes new characters probably so im also 👀👀👀

Ooh! Yes! Since you mentioned new characters….

Note, for The Untold Tale ch6, keep in mind this is from my notes so details are subject to change in the final draft, but here’s a snippet (and some context)! In this chapter I wish to avoid injecting OCs as much as possible unless strictly necessary and I think it’ll be fun learning some more cultural details via the storytelling medium Shen Yuan interacts with some actual gods and goddesses (placeholders) from Chinese mythology.

╰(*´︶`*)╯♡

(Spoiler alert down below!)

SNIPPET

Shen Miao was quiet.

Unlike themselves whose births were blessed by the Heavenly Dao, they as gods and celestial beings were far more selective with the moral quality of the mortals who they allowed into their homes. Only exceptional meritorious spirits were allowed to ascend to either the Silver Bridge—giving one access to a position in the Celestial Bureaucracy—or to the Golden Bridge—which allowed for rebirth in one of the upper realms of the Heavenly Realm.

“A man who’s arrogant from being pampered is destined to not last long,” she said. “Sān gē will toss him really quickly.”

(TUT, Ch6 Excerpt)

CONTEXT

*Sān gē - Third brother (referring to Shen Yuan)

In this chapter, Shen Yuan goes to meet the Heavenly Emperor. On the way, he will reunite with his “family members” in PIDW which the System has set for him a lá a direct side effect of his Protagonist’s Halo (if he hadn’t asked to become the deuteragonist, he wouldn’t have gotten this powerful background). One of them is his sister. I’d made a few posts about her here on tumblr and on twitter.

Shen Miao is the name I’m giving SY’s unnamed little sister, as an Easter Egg reference to the protagonist of The Rebirth of the Malicious Empress of Military Lineage. In this excerpt, after SY leaves, the family consults with one another about this demon lord Luo Binghe that their treasured family member (celestial fortuneteller/ warlord SY) is suddenly so protective over and supposedly having a fate that will change the Three Realms, and warlord Shen Miao makes this remark (about Bingge).

(Shen Yuan canonically has parents, 2 older brothers and 1 younger sister in SVSSS. Since we’re “bringing them” into this story they haven’t transmigrated; the celestial beings that are SY’s family in PIDW which he meets this chapter coincidentally share their same names and faces, I’m giving them the xianxia treatment in this AU and giving my own spin on them. To give you an idea of the two older brothers who were supposed to take over the family’s manufacturing business before SY transmigrated, here’s the vibe of one of them in the below GIF.)

Shen Yuan’s father, as we’ll come to find out, is the Heavenly Emperor. And his mother is the Heavenly Empress. Their entire family is a family of warlords. It’s the type of hidden family background we rag on protagonists for being too OP, haha, so I wanted to play into that since SY is LBH’s golden thigh in TUT and he also shares the same protagonist halo with LBH. This version of SY is supposed to be the perfect match for Bingge SO WE ARE GONNA HEAVILY LEAN INTO THAT and satirize a few tropes (esp. the Opposites Attract; it’s dramatic were a “forbidden romance” to spring up between a demon lord and celestial being, no? Hee hee.)

[aworldforastage]

I'm now onto episode 14 of 重生之将门毒后/The Rebirth of the Malicious Empress of Military Lineage and I think I know where my annoyance comes from.

Shen Miao died miserably in her first life because she trusted the wrong people, thought she knew better than everyone, and ignored the advice from people like her parents who truly love her.

In her second life, she acts the same way, in that she still undermines her parents etc because she still believes she knows better than them! Except this time she does "know better," because plot armor and protagonist's halo giving her knowledge of "the future" so somehow that attitude isn't going to be a problem again .... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯....

Her real problem in her first life undermining the depth of other people: both the intelligence and foresight of kind people like her parents as well as the envy and cruelty of shallow people like her cousins and her ex-husband. There should have been a lesson about learning to observe and better understand others, but she doesn't do that for anyone except for her love interest. For everyone else she just goes off the knowledge she had from the last life, with actions that sometimes make mortal enemies out of people who haven't done anything to her yet.

I know this isn't the kind of story meant for truly critical reading, but I do think it's on the edge of losing internal logical consistency. It's unreasonable that the people smart enough to play Shen Miao like a fiddle in a past life are now completely defenseless against her new schemes.

Of course, this is the kind of novel where the universe literally revolves around her: people hate her intensely and are out to ruin her because she is the main character for no good reason. Some people just are inherently and irredeemably cruel and base and she is just nixing those threats in the bud. I read the corresponding chapters of the novel and it's better about showing the agency and cleverness of other characters, but for the most part it's still a fairly simple dichotomy between "good people" and "bad people".

Another dynamic that seems to be developing which I don't like too much is when the main couple "only has each other" as people who truly understand them. One of them has memories of another life, and the other has a double life as the prince of another nation. They don't feel connected with the people around them and finally meet one other person who understand this secrecy and loneliness (and an understated sense of superiority). But this done at the expense of family and friends they have spent years with and deep care for them, and making them somehow unsuitable as confidants and allies. In this case Shen Miao's family is set up like they are not smart enough and are too kind to keep up with her plans, while Xie Jingxing by circumstance of birth cannot go back to his old connections in Mingqi.

but I'm still carrying on with the audiodrama, in no small part because I want to know what going to happen to Su Mingfeng ... whenever Wen Sen-laoshi voices a character in that voice I lose all my priorities and perspective ...