To Be A Virtuous Wife

Description

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As a virtuous wife, does it include tolerating his cousin, enduring his concubines, bearing his mother?

If you will not let me live freely, why would I let you live in satisfaction?

Did fate let women time-travel so they could learn the three morals and four virtues?

Rather than act like a coward and live, it would be better to live in satisfaction and die.

Associated Names
One entry per line
He Wei Xian Qi
Thế nào là hiền thê
ชายาผู้มีคุณธรรม
何为贤妻
Related Series
N/A
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Latest Release

Date Group Release
01/05/16 Dreams of Jianghu c123 (end)
01/04/16 Dreams of Jianghu c122
01/03/16 Dreams of Jianghu c121
01/02/16 Dreams of Jianghu c120
01/01/16 Dreams of Jianghu c119
12/31/15 Dreams of Jianghu c118
12/30/15 Dreams of Jianghu c117
12/29/15 Dreams of Jianghu c116
12/28/15 Dreams of Jianghu c115
12/27/15 Dreams of Jianghu c114
12/26/15 Dreams of Jianghu c113
12/25/15 Dreams of Jianghu c112
12/24/15 Dreams of Jianghu c111
12/23/15 Dreams of Jianghu c110
12/22/15 Dreams of Jianghu c109
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352 Reviews sorted by


En-Jay99
En-Jay99 rated it
April 5, 2023
Status: Completed
Finished it because of the high rating and one of the few instances where the rating was not worth it.

MC has no drive, no deep personality and at no point did I feel a connection despite staying with her for a 100 chapters. The summary pretty much sums up her entire character. Her 'living freely' is just eating and sleeping. MC is outright bored multiple times in the story and so was I. Basically things happen around the MC and she benefits from it without any major action from her... more>> side. Because of her identity as the 'legitimate' wife, she has all the power already and can deal with the concubines. The ML is the one who wants to have a good relationship with the main wife, so she benefits. Her maids are all loyal to her so she lucks out, and the concubines are 'grateful' that she's not awful to them. Other people say she's smart and yes she can manage social situations, but her status allows her to get away with a lot.

We don't see the MC with any deep emotions, trying to figure things out, her thought process or emotional attachment to anything. She expects the ML to cheat on her for 100+ chapters and has barely any emotional conflict about it. Yeah sure society expects the ML to have more wives, but despite being in the MC's head, we get nothing. There is only a change in the last 5 chapters which is not worth it.

This novel is basically a person transmigrating into someone who already had power, staying above the lowest bar of human decency and having the extreme good luck to be surrounded with loyal people and that's it. <<less
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Naniey25
Naniey25
September 12, 2022
Status: c123
I'm in love with this novel and very much in love with MC. I'm not sure why a lot of reviews are so low but from what I read it were mostly due to preferences. This story is not for people who wants face slapping or instant gratification. To me, this story is the most realistic out of all transmigration stories I've ever read. This story is my go to guide if I've ever got transmigrated to old times.

Let me address the complaints stated by other reviewers:

1. The translation. I... more>> like this kind of translation. I've learned a lot of new Chinese word from this story. A lot of the words that have been kept have very complicated meaning and hard to be translated into English. It also help in keeping the overall mood of the story since it is very intricated with ancient Chinese culture. I don't know why a lot of people complaining about the translation when the translator gave both short and detailed notes/glossary. I like learning something new through reading. It is a bit tedious but it helps in understanding the story in terms of context and social notion of the time. For example, the title of concubine is determined by their rank (Cefei/Qieshi/Tongfang). This ranking system is hard to be translated and easier to be understood if we kept the phrase. Plus, the terms that were used are all historically accurate.

2. Cold MC. To me, Qing Ju is very mature amd realistic upon her situation. I know some of you guys want an MC who would face slap other concubines and dominates her husband. However, you need to be aware of the social structures of the time. It was common for guys to have concubines especially for the royals. He Heng is definitely a normal ancient chinese man who does not believe in poligamy. Plus, he's a future emperor who will have tons of women is his harem. There's no point in eliminating all females especially not for a guy who doesn't believe in having only one wife. She could even be label as jealous which could be used as a reson for divorce during that time. She doesn't show her heart easily. She is a woman who takes very good care of herself. No point in being virtous if you yourself are suffering for it. It is a bit unreasonable to call her cold. She may not love passionately but her love is steady like a slow flowing river.

3. Bland MC. Really? Yeah, she doesn't do much cuz that what women of that time do. She did what she could within the limit she have. She managed her household, control the harem, curry favor, takes care of her husband just like any other women of that time do. Just because she is a modern woman doesn't mean that she would know a lot about modern stuff. How many of you women knows about modern invention to the point of able to create those inventions? Tax system? Judiciary? Modern finance? Modern health system? Pharmacy? Administration? Qing Ju is just a normal girl with modern prespective over life. She believe in woman rights but she's not a position where she can just pick up a sword, ride horses and fight for woman right. That's unrealistic. She believe in monogamous marriage but she's powerless against the society so she try to treat her husband's concubines nicely since she knows it is not their own choice. If you want those MC who are strong, outspoken, high-achiever, all that jig, this is just not the story for you. Don't complain and just move on. <<less
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puregarnet
puregarnet rated it
August 19, 2022
Status: c52
C52: Dropped

Soo, I'm probably not going to continue the story. These types of stories just aren't suited for me haha. I wanted a face-slapping story but also have some humour or feel good parts like a rootable protagonist or ML that you root for against all the villains. However, here, I find every character in the story is just a bit*h even the MC, scheming, sneers at everyone, constantly thinks bad of everyone. No one is likeable at all except maybe the 4th prince, who barely had a couple of... more>> appearances until now. Everyone else is thinking badly of other people and it's just such a cesspool of pure negativity.

Writing/Translation

The translation is super good. You can tell that the translator really loved the story and put a lot of care and effort into writing it. There are many footnotes and pictures littered throughout.

Plot

Up to here, it's just the MC living her life and encountering all these banquets and events where she will always be on top in the end. However, there are some plot holes or things that don't make sense as smoothly as the MC. She just transmigrated here but she can pick up all the ancient Chinese culture so quickly that she can decisively order a bunch of servants to be beaten up in front of her. There is no error in the actions to live in such a place.

What Story Tried to Achieve

This is just a pure, face-slapping Chinese palace drama story up to here. The romance with the guy feels like insta-love and the MC is being cautious at the moment but still pretending to be a good wife. Well, the face slapping is definitely delivered on all accounts. The chinese palace drama is also very much delivered, the back talk and hidden actions are at least not purely straightforward. There are plots and stuff happening everywhere that are interesting. The romance, I haven't really reached it yet in that I'm not sure what exactly the main couple really thinks of each other.

The title meaning feels like irony, everyone pretends to be or wants a virtuous wife but hah! Every single female is the complete opposite of one and every male feels entitled to one.

Pacing

I think it's good so far. Isn't rushed or slow, especially with all the double backhanded twisty talk happening everywhere. This was the only thing that kept me reading.

Characters

I dislike everyone. Everyone looks down on everyone and wants to climb over other people to get higher. The ML is a typical ML. The MC has no compassion and just does what she wants. But, I do like that she has decisiveness in her and that she actually handles things well and is smart and able to beat other people herself. All the other characters have the same attitude. There are no good relationships here except between the mother and child but when the characters themselves aren't likeable, I don't care about the relationship. And even if there are likeable characters, they appear so infrequently that it's like there's no point to give me good feelings. So overall, this story isn't enjoyable for me.

My Created Lists (I include my rating and review in the list itself XD)

  • All Novels I've Read Sorted By Rating - Where I ranked every single novel I read on novelupdates.
  • Heartwarming or Feel Good or Wholesome Stories I Liked - As stated haha
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werk5
werk5 rated it
June 13, 2022
Status: c17
Dropped. The writing is fine but I just did not see the point in continuing on with the story because I was not invested at all. Don't understand why the MC could magically figure out how to manage things in ancient China and the explanation that she was a manager in modern times did not make sense at all. Apples and oranges. Also, I felt that Duan Wang warmed too quickly to the MC, one moment she was a neglected wife, the next moment, he was siding her on all... more>> fronts. <<less
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fallinlight
fallinlight rated it
March 22, 2022
Status: Completed
This novel was okay. It was not bad but it's not excellent either so it was pretty average for me.

To be honest, I don't really like the story but it's just a personal opinion of mine so I have nothing to say about that.

The translations though, it was pretty bad. The first few chapters were terrible but I keep reading and it improved so props to the translators for that. But, I was pretty pissed that the translators decided to kept many chinese words that could be translated to english... more>> pretty well and didn't lose the original meaning. And not to mention the footnotes, I just can't understand why they don't put it just below each paragraphs to make it easier to read. So, yeah. The story was a bit meh for me but I could see why it's high in most people's list. <<less
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cgem
cgem rated it
February 15, 2022
Status: Completed
This is one of my favorite web novels so far! If you could get pass all the pinyin/chinese terms then this novel will bring you lots of endearing moments, life lessons, along with character growth.

My number one reason to read this novel is:

- if you want to learn how to seduce a man and make him fall head over heels in love with you.

Qu Qing Ju pretty much nail down the role of seductress and how to do it in a graceful and dignified way leaving all love rivals in... more>> jealousy, envy, hopelessness, and awe.

Her guidebook is simple: be yourself, put yourself first, look your best, communicating what you want, have a good attitude, be sweet and charming, flirtatious, cunning, mysterious, make him earn your trust and love, etc...

How she implement all these element to make He Heng respect, pamper and fall in love with her is brillant and requires multiple re-reading to master all those techniques.

If you have been in multiple relationships in the past, this novel will give you a glimpse into the different types of man-woman relationships and reasons why a man would prefer one woman instead of another. Of course, all of us wants to be Qu Qing Ju. So start taking notes from the beginning. <<less
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Bappylife
Bappylife
July 16, 2021
Status: c28
The story is good so far, would love to keep going, but I can't maintain focus. The Chinese words to describe the relationships are too confusing so that I find myself lost half the time. I have read Cnovels before and none of them have confused me as much as this one. Maybe I am not quite there yet with the Chinese so in fairness I will give this a four. As good as a novel is, it is not great if it becomes a headache to decipher.
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jaeminfeio
jaeminfeio rated it
June 21, 2021
Status: c123
Honestly, this is an extremely boring novel to read. Both the "political" plot and the main couple are developed very lightly. The MC is just a shrewd woman who wins arguments against a bunch of characters just as boring. Initially, I thought that the main focus of the novel would be ML's ambitions, but he didn't make any notable moves and in the end everything was delivered to him on a golden plate; easily. Boring!
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Noveltoread
Noveltoread rated it
May 27, 2021
Status: Completed
I read this novel way earlier but realize I havent rated it when it is one of my fav.

I read this when I was sucker for historical, ancient setting with harem schemes and political struggles, and this doesn't disappoint at all. This novel has all the elements in mild form as it shows things more from MC perspective who isnt heavily politically inclined.

Our MC who gets transmigrated into timid wangfei adapts herself into the setting pretty seamlessly. She is very realistic and practical does what she wants and wants to... more>> enjoy life to the fullest while being lazy.

She doesnt whine how the ML has concubines and has mentality of ancient man but accepts it and the fact that he won't truely love her or his love will be everlasting. She doesnt fully believe in the ML but accept the fact that for her to be in power she needs to win over her husband and does things to gain his attention. He finds her very intriguing and mysterious and slowly falls for her.

She is very respectable, isnt overpowering does her duties as the head of harem very well. She, coming from modern life understands the women of this setting and sympathizes with them and does everything she can to accommodate their needs. But she isn't a pushover. She isn't goody two shoes or an innocent person who lets people mess her. She clap back as well.

The ML initially has the characteristics of those men in that period :arrogant doesnt think too much of his concubine but after some point your perspective will change as he show character development and realize he is devoted to our MC and the nation.
Both MC and ML are very level headed person. They are smart, realistic and dignified royalties.

Spoiler

It never clarifies if the MC truely loves the ML or not. As story progresses we can see how much the ML loves her and he himself believes he loves him more than she does. That doesnt mean she is cold to ML it's just that she doesnt express it verbally but she is always there when ML needs her. She isn't very emotional person who profuses love everytime she is more of action speaks louder and in the epilogue it hints that the MC also loves him very much but wont say that and will take it to her grave and let it remain as a mystery which in turn makes you feel for the ml.

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But you can see from side character's perspective that the love between them will be seen as an example of so called legendary love in that era.

I had fun reading new words in this novel props to the translator for not changing wangfei into princess consort and such. It just add to the historical setting and makes it more authentic. There are quotes in the novel which are very heartwarming.

Overall this novel is very interesting and easy peaceful read describing everyday life of our MC who is wife of emperor candiate to be. She isnt the op knowing it all MC but someone who is very regular, talented person who take what life gives and makes it worthy.

Give the novel some time to grow into you and this novel will give the joy of reading. Thats what I felt when I read this novel. Highly recommended. <<less
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Kikae
Kikae rated it
April 8, 2021
Status: Completed
Ngl I avoided this novel many times because of the summary, (actually I'm not sure how I even started reading it lol) it's different from what the summary implies. While there is drama, schemes and problems, that's part of an ancient China novel honestly. It's nice novel, easy to read and enjoyable. The characters aren't one dimensional villans or anything like that. I love how the characters change and grow over time. Translation is 10/10, though they do leave some titles and stuff untranslated and in pinyin, I actually... more>> prefer that way. <<less
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adit787
adit787 rated it
January 27, 2021
Status: c12
Well before I can grasp the story I need to grasp the mandarin. After reading some chapter I didn't even know what the relationship between character because every relation term is in pinyin form, and the worst I even doubt if it's people name or position/job. Rather than entertain it become a torture with this quality of translation.
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FEMA
FEMA rated it
July 19, 2020
Status: c1
Full marks for story, "You tried" award for the translation, I really wish we could have separate ratings for them. The person has a good grasp of chinese, but OMG do they have a boner for trying to force chinese terms down the readers troath, they left a completely unreasonable amount of original language words that have perfectly good direct translations, unless they are trying to make material for chinese class.

I have already tried to read it before when I was just getting into chinese webnovels and I had to... more>> quit, could only managed it after reading a boatload of other novels that actually translate and just left the odd word for flavor or because there is not direct translation, unlike this mess of translation. <<less
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Rentintin
Rentintin
July 12, 2020
Status: --
I really really want to read this but the chinese terms are impeding me to understand what I'm reading. Yes it is understandable that the translator may want to present the different hierarchies in its original form but it only makes the reading unpleasant.
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Tirayum
Tirayum rated it
April 30, 2020
Status: --
Don't let the overwhelmingly positive reviews fool you. As good as the story may be, the translator simply refused to present it in a way you can read confortably. There are 36 footnotes in the first chapter alone. Simply ridiculous. What is so difficult abou using terms like concunbine, manor and legal wife? Noooo, let the thing in chinese. Not a nightmare to read at all.
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notgoodorbad
notgoodorbad rated it
April 29, 2020
Status: c1
Translation is... it's not actually translated at all.
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haruhi91
haruhi91 rated it
February 19, 2020
Status: Completed
I am in the minority but I didn't enjoy it much, I had to force myself to complete it.

I enjoy romance novels where I can connect to the couple and feel their emotions, but I didn't feel much, it was all so bland and devoid of love. The female lead is practical in thinking that in order to attract a man, you have to take care of your appearance, dress beautifully and act seductively, so she manages to catch his attention and he "dotes" on her a lot. But that's... more>> it, where is the growing affection? We can see a little how ML's lust evolves in love, but the same can't be said for the MC, even ML keeps doubting for years what feelings the MC really has for him. The author says "Love isn't spoken, but proven through actions" and I agree, but I simply think that this novel fails to represent the meaning of that sentence <<less
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rinshi
rinshi rated it
December 7, 2019
Status: Completed
This novel has been heavily recommended to me, but fearing that it could not live up to its fame, I put off reading it. Overall, I am not disappointed, but it is not as outstanding as I expected it to be. Don't get me wrong, it is a really good novel, but it's hard for me to give it full marks. I like it very much, but I do not love it.

First, let's start with the good points. I enjoy both MC and ML, and they do make a great... more>> pairing. Yet, I wish we could get to know more about their personalities and feelings, which are, in my opinion, not extensively described.

Spoiler

The MC transmigrated into this world, but we do not get to learn about the circumstances of her transmigration, nor much about her previous life. She is calm, clear-headed and confident, but, at the same time, she is also detached, which made it harder for me to completely relate to her. The same is kinda true for the ML. There aren't many chapters that are written in the pov of the ML, but at least his feelings (when talking about the MC) are made abundantly clear. I know that, as the MC often states: actions speak louder than words, but I agreed with the ML at the end. It wasn't clear to me how the MC truly felt about the ML (which is really a pity).

Having their personalities, their circumstances and their feeling described further and more extensively would have probably pushed me to rate this novel even better.

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It is a slice-of-life fairy-tale, and the drama and intrigues aren't excessive and usually resolved very quickly. No angst whatsoever. It is a comfortable read. Yet, sometimes feels slightly bland.

Lastly, I also wanted to mention the translator, who did an amazing job. I really do not mind the pinyin as much as others. Of course, it took time to get into it, but once you did, it just added flair to the translation. So please do not hesitate reading it because of that! You'd be missing out.

Just as a side note: What I also wanted to mention is that I really like the character transformation of the third brother, and the first epilogue further depicting him (which was really one of the most touching aspects for me). <<less
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amelyn95
amelyn95 rated it
October 13, 2019
Status: c6
I just can't understand why the translator added so much extra task into her already mountain of work. Was it so important for readers to used wangfe/ wangye instead of princess/ prince etc? All the glossary that I need to refer each paragraph I read killed me. Skip from ch.5, direct to ch.72-78 and I still can't continue.

So for readers like me, that had hard enough time to remember foreign character names, this one is not for you too lol.

Translator is really consistent in her writing imo, so kudos for... more>> that <<less
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craz
craz
November 12, 2017
Status: Completed
First and foremost, don’t be fool by the title! When I first saw TBAVW I avoid it for a couple weeks until I ran out of novels to read, finally decided to give it a try and to my surprise best historical romance novel.

TBAVW is my favorite transmigration novel follows by ETT. I loves the MC’s personality so much. Moreover, the loves between MC and male lead bring tears to my eyes, especially the ending. Furthermore, male lead’s mother is such an awesome and noteworthy character. The things a mother... more>> will do for her child is unbelievable.

All in all, I highly recommend TBAVW. <<less
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Saiyademon22
Saiyademon22 rated it
July 26, 2016
Status: Completed
Okay all I could say so far will be very short for my type of reviews

CHARACTER:
-A bit two dimensional, not that you'll hate it or love it but good enough that you can follow their character and learn to know and like them as the story goes. Not much a fan of the male MC, because his to arrogant for my taste as the story starts bu latter on he becomes too stand offish later on. The female MC is not that heart-warming character but rather the cool type... more>> that most people would like in a female MC, not too fierce and not too gentle.
PLOT:
-a linear plot, imperial politics, but mostly the battle is at the female yuan (palaces) most of the story follows the general flow of the romance masses, with a mature characters to make it more realistic.
TECHNICAL WRITING:
-can't write much cause I had read the translated version. But it has a nice flow and an average used of wording, not too deep or too simple.
SETTING:
-The setting is very amiable well portraited, but not much on the details.. (Better watch more chine historical dramas to be able to completely visualized the setting)
OPINIONS:
-one of the best story with female romance protagonist, so far aside from Empress with no Virtue, Chu Wang Fei these has one of the best historical drama/romance. <<less
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