from another tribe so he seems more open minded.

they don't keep her locked up in the boudoir but actually take her with them and see and experience the world

I was a bit hesitant after reading some of the reviews but decided to try it anyways. And I was not disappointed! I've read a lot of CN and this is one of them where I went and MTL the rest of the chapters because it was so good. This is different from all the other revenge/second chance novels and the villains were annoying but they were also cleaned up and the main ones dragged on a bit but not too much. So I don't really understand some of the critical comments on a few of the reviews here. First off, this is a Chinese novel. The author and people are Chinese and with an ancient way of thinking. If you can't understand why people in different cultures do things then don't read these types of novels. Don't bash on a novel just because you have your own biases and ignore the writing and storytelling of the author. The ex-husband is scum, yes, but that's how the author intents to write him so you rate it badly for the author making you hate a character you're supposed to hate? Just because you don't like a character then they don't get to have emotions like regret and hope and their own POV?

The ML and MC are very cute together and the ML is pretty likable. He has reasons for the way he did things and they make sense. I disagree with one of the reviews saying their relationship is disgusting and sickening. It is actually very cute and the ML is very loyal and tries to do everything without hurting the MC.

I also disagree with comments saying the MC did nothing and stopped caring about her past enemies. The MC didn't do nothing. In fact, when she got reborn she refused to get married but it wasn't her fault that the emperor bestowed her a marriage decree and ofc she can't refuse. Not in this type of ancient culture. She didn't want to care about her past enemies because when she died, she already matured and wanted to live her life again as freely as she could. She didn't want to get caught up in revenge. Her saying "who cares" meant she didn't want to waste all her energy again doing the same things she did for other people in the past just to end up as a stepping stone for everyone else.

Also, the setting is very important. This is set right after a huge war in which thousands of people had died. The emperor just established power and is looking to centralize control and rebuild the population. A lot of weight is put on laws and talent. There is a lot of text on Confucianism and Legalism ways of thinking and how to balance those to benefit the people.

Overall it was a very enjoyable read and if you like these mature kinds of novels that tries to stay in-line with how the way of thinking was back then, then you'll probably enjoy this.

Spoiler summary:

In the first chapter, you find out MC is married to a widow who has a daughter and son with a mother-in-law. She tries to do her best as a step-mother but her step-kids hate her and her husband is always morning for his dead wife. MC's family is a Confucius family and she is taught to be morally righteous so everything she does is to be benevolent and abiding by the rules. It doesn't go well for her and she ends up exiled by her husband to a remote place after being framed. Later, her stepson finds her and tells her the shocking secret that his mother (the dead wife) was actually not dead. Instead, the ex-wife faked her death so she can pretend to be the twin sister and get married into the palace as a concubine. She threw away her husband and kids for fame and glory. The husband and daughter knows this but still helps the ex-wife secretly and that's one of the reasons why the MC had so many stumbles in life. The stepson realizes that the MC is the only one who truly cared about his future and he went to see her because he was later tricked and got his legs broken. So he came to repent but at this time, the MC was already tired of everything. She ends up wasting away and thus gets reborn back to before she got married.

After getting reborn, she is determined not to marry into the same family. But something happens where she had to come out and defended her grandpa in front of other scholars. Her family is a Confucius thinking family and at this time, there were a lot of different schools of thoughts. One of them was Legalism. Confucianism emphasis respect to family and filial piety while Legalism emphasis respect to laws. She argued against the scholars of Legalism and won. The emperor (ML) was secretly watching and found her and her family to be very talented. So he wanted to bring her into the palace and also promote her father and grandpa to high-ranking officials. At this time he didn't have a lot of feelings for her but just thought she was dazzling and smart. He was going to give her a high title as well, but one of his concubine, the ex-wife who faked her death so she could enter the palace, found out about this and after finding out the MC was better than her, asked her daughter (from her ex-husband) to have her ex-husband remarry the MC as to prevent her from going to the palace. So the daughter made a fuss and the ex-husband, thinking that they can use a mother, tried to ask for marriage but was rejected. He then went to the emperor asking for a marriage decree and the emperor, also being guilty that he took his wife, agreed hoping he can move on. There is a conspiracy with how the ex-wife entered the palace but it gets resolved later in the novel. So with the marriage decree, the MC had to marry as the same as in her old life. After realizing this, she adjust her way of thinking and instead, becomes calm and decides she can still live peacefully as long as she herself only does the things she wants to on the higher moral ground. That way no one can question her or force her. She also knows that the husband will never touch her since he is still in love with his ex-wife.

Almost half of the novel is about her married life and how she made different decisions from her past life to prevent the past from repeating. Very soon she'll meet the emperor, who is disguised, and this time attract his attention with her way of thinking. He first admires her, then falls for her, and has a lot of heartache over thinking how s*upid he was that he gave her away. The emperor is very open-minded and has a tragic past that makes him sympathize with the common people. He eventually pursues her after realizing she has no feelings for her current husband and determining she is going to divorce eventually and remarry him. Ofc, he wouldn't be so bold if she also isn't as bold. Even though she says she won't marry him, she doesn't reject him either because deep down she also falls for him.

When she finally gets divorced, the rest of the novel is about her and the emperor and how she establishes control in the back palace. There are a few conspiracies here that get tidied up and you don't really see the ex-husband and her stepkids anymore but that makes sense since she's no longer married there.

And there is a bonus storyline at the very end. A few chapters are dedicated to a different timeline in which the ex-husband is the one that gets reborn and the MC has been married for 4 years, right before the time she was exiled in the first life. The ex-husband tries to keep the MC since he fell for her in the last timeline (in which the MC was reborn) but eventually fails. I'm not sure why the author even brought him back but probably to tell us that his fate with the MC, no matter how many timelines, won't work out. I also think it's another way to show a different side to how the MC and ML will meet since she meets with the emperor again and eventually marries him again. At first I thought it was how the MC and ex-husband get together but it's really just another dogfood being shoved into our faces of the MC and ML (emperor) which I happily accept.

This is a quick summary but I highly recommend reading the first few chapters and if you like it, then you'll like the rest of the novel. The MC also goes through a character change and realize she shouldn't be so passive. The ML also solves his own inner demons with the MC's help and everything is well written.

He was someone who grew up with wolves, which was not by choice. The only person who taught him how to talk was his imperial sister who were, at that time, believed in the rumors that he was some kind of evil spirit due to something that happened in the past back when he was literally just a baby who lost his mother. He is a person who is very passionate in gaining knowledge since his relatives never cared about him and insults him for having lacking knowledge before. Try to understand where he's coming from and you'll see why I said he is not disgusting.

ML's perfunctory attitude towards FL in the beginning really made me gritted my teeth. I was sure it's gonna be a big mistake. So I was satisfied when FL was furious when she knew the truth (from ML's own mouth at that)..

Now the ML.. He can be quite egoistic, I don't think it's entirely from him being an emperor (cos he was still learning to be one).. But more because he was raised by a pack of wolf.. So his thinking is like those of a predator.. He locked on his prey proudly, never giving her the chance to escape..

Suddenly, the extras (fanwai) came.. And I find myself appreciating their love story in the main plot, as the extra plot is quite gloomy and bloody..

but I understand that different circumstances and environment influenced their thoughts and behaviours.. Thus with different life trajectories, they became different people.. Though I'm very happy that both plots (main & extra) have a HE^^

Pros:

• • the MC is level-headed, while the description made it seem as if she just let everyone do whatever, she does have everything under control. She seems to be able to think her way and plan her way out of most things

• • translator is doing an amazing job, like the amount of effort invested into trying to help the reader understand what the characters debate about when it's super philosophical. I have no doubt a pain to translate and include an explanation for the sayings. Seriously props to the translator.

• • the ML does not ab*se his authority to do anything to the MC and is not petty or narrow-minded, for me I just dislike when the ML is at a higher authority than the MC but that's really my problem

• • the villainess actually has brains? Kinda? It does feels like she just keeps driving herself into a corner and before she realized it, she had no way to escape, honestly, her past does explains her actions though

• • novel is logical and almost everyone have a reason as to why they act the way they do

• • favourite character is def the maids
  • the MC was reborn instead of being a transmigrated person which I deeply appreciate

Cons:

• • MC's appearance is praised to the high heavens lol, like I'm kinda tired of a beautiful MC, can't she just be plain or something else idk, but then I'll probably have to fight every CN novel author lmao

• • ML is at a higher power than MC, I just dislike uneven power dynamics

• • I want the villainess to be even smarter and hide her tracks better

• • my god the original husband makes me so frustrated, like he seriously lacks a brain, I really wonder how he became a general

• • the qin-went-mute-for-love-guy, like yes let me guilt my significant other into breaking social norms and marrying me. Though you can argue they already had these feelings for each other, and the guy is just encouraging the girl into feeling bad enough to brave the social norm but honestly idk I just find it guilt trippy but yea

I was going insane cuz I cannot believe the villainess actually planned the life saving grace thing lol like damn they really planned that far back I wonder if she had someone transmigrated into her how the author would change the narrative around but yea