It's Better to be the Empress Dowager 宫斗不如当太后

by Jiu Yue Liu Huo, September Flowing Fire, 九月流火

Tang Shishi was the number one beauty in the court. She was arrogant, domineering and aggressive. She accidentally picked up a book and learned that she was just a vicious female second lead in a palace struggle. Later, she would fight for favor with the female lead, and eventually she was ruined and died miserably.

Now, they have just entered the fief of Jing Wang, and the first meeting of the male and female leads has not happened yet. There are two paths before Tang Shishi. The first is to hold the heroine’s thighs tightly and join the female lead camp early; the second is to please the male lead and steal the favor of the female lead.

Tang Shishi chooses the third way.

Tang Shishi knew that the male lead’s adoptive father Jing Wang seemed to be low profile, but in fact he was overly ambitious. In the near future, he will invade the capital and proclaim the emperor before the imperial court, but it is a pity that he passed away before passing the throne to the male lead.

This year, Jing Wang is twenty-four years old, still young, and has yet to marry a wife.
Anyway, she already in the Forbidden City. Instead of being the concubine of the male lead, it is better to be his adopted mother, the empress dowager in one step.

————–

Zhao Chengjun had no intention to get married, so he adopted his subordinate son as his heir. He thought he would be with his army in his whole life.

Later, the imperial family sent a team of beauties to Prince Jing, and the leader was named Tang Shishi.

His young, adopted son and his subordinates also persuaded: Your Highness, this is a beauty trap.
Jing Wang: I know.

The so-called beauty trap was merely a bait for those who wish.

Associated Names

Genres: China, Asian Literature, Romance, Historical, Historical Fiction, Historical Romance, Adult

Unknown Binding

About the author

Associated Names:
* Jiu Yue Liu Huo / September Flowing Fire (English)
* 九月流火 (Chinese)
* Cửu Nguyệt Lưu Hỏa (Vietnamese)
* จิ่วเยวี่ยหลิวหั่ว / จิ่วเยว่หลิวหั่ว (Thai)

Reviews

[Emong · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rating: 4.5 ★

I can proudly say: I LOVE HOW DITSY THIS HEROINE IS! She's great. She knows she's not smart, but she does her best anyway. Smart people overthinking things makes things go her way and it's hilarious.

Ignore the synopsis and dive in blind. Lose all the expectations and you'll love it.

[Ani · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's the slowest burn I've read in NU. It was on my TBR for a long time and I didn't read it until now. The synopsis is so freaking badass. But I've to warn that the synopsis doesn't really match the plot. It may seem like the female lead is a clever and scheming woman but she is not, she did not even choose the third way at first but chose the second, nonetheless she was very ambitious and was willing to work hard towards her goal. Tang Shishi may even seem like a stupid girl with dumb luck. But the thing is that it never becomes annoying, it's not cringey and her shenanigans are hilarious. The actual romance started from 50 chapter or so. So you have to have patience for the plot and romance between the leads to pick up. The male lead was a wife-slave through and through though he denied to marry for the rest of his life and got slapped in the face later😆😆😆. He even said that he hated noise and trouble, did not like children at all but made a catalog to determine when the baby in Tang Shishi's belly would kick approximately and left his work to check on her and the beby many times. He was a sweetheart. Loved his character❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

The political angst is not much but that was okay with me. There was many misunderstandings and comedic elements, the novel was addicting with grey characters and retribution cycle. It's basically a story of how two heartless and selfish people fell in love and despite knowing the consequences they could not act rationally at the last moment but chose love over safety.

[Limecello · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually had some mixed feelings about FL because ... while I liked her, it really felt like it was only cuz she's FL and I'm 95% partial to them, cuz she was a brat. Granted, who wouldn't love to get to be that way. All the extra chapters/stories - I CAN'T BELIEVE IT CUT OFF LIKE THAT!
Also... so confusing ... but we get a glimpse of that "previous life where I owed you."
The climax/big conflict(s) were a bit of a let down, but nothing too serious.
ML wasn't quite as sweet as the other one /not written so but MAN did he pamper his wife. Heh.

Not mad I read it at all, I might re-read it but I'd re-read a number of novels before this one.
I think I wish there'd just be ... more between our characters once they REALIZED (well, ok, FL - she was the clueless one here) - but also like ... ML never TOLD her. Argh.

The below are my thoughts/comments as reading.

😹☠️ c9 they think FL is pledging loyalty to the empress dowager but really she’s cursing her father & brother with her “if I have 2 hearts they’ll die miserably” 😇

C11 I’m HOWLING 😹 FL has impressive levels of shamelessness but uhoh ML just blocked her & she’s now HIS study servant ☠️🫠

C53 FL is still targeting the “son” & TBH I’m wondering if it’s a translation issue cuz from pretty early on she targets the “empress dowager” position but… she equates that with the “son” not ML which … o.O
Also by now he’s finally falling for her ❤️ - I want to shake the a) shitty son b) even more his shit wife 😒😡
AWWWW FL SAVED ML’s *LIFE*!!!! I hope he knows (at least at some point…)

C58 I legit cried reading FL’s paragraph that she’s incompetent - page won’t let me c/p.
But 😖 why does she need an aphrodisiac who is she trying to scheme?!?

Noooooooo c61 the misunderstanding ML why are you giving up already WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy

C101 - what a goddamn mess. Shizi is useless & evil as are all his concubines. They need to get rid of him fast 😡

Glad ML & FL seem to be doing well together but though ML treats her well he seems so reluctant 😐

C102 ending - oh shoot an imperial decree to celebrate the new year in the capital?! 😱
(Also 🙄😒 these dumb fucks in the manor ONLY NOW figuring out how favored FL is 🙄 how did they even survive in the JingWang Fu 🙄😒)

C108 *snickersnort* FL is naughty playing her family like that but… who told them to be pretentious assholes? 🤷🏻‍♀️

C114 😹😹☠️ so … I mean FL isn’t stupid but she KINDA is stupid but everyone just thinks she’s so scheming - she’s at least smarter than the empress dowager & her ilk though so 💯

C115 Zhou Shunhua is the worst like HOW was she ever “FL material” like shizi is trash too - obviously they aren’t REALLY the leads but even so 🙄😒😡
And seriously her fake ass pregnancy 😡 (🙄 or is she actually pregnant now…)
Hmph I kinda hope ZSH tells shizi & he does something stupid & is punished & also that he pines for FL forever 😡

C123 😱😅 oh damn the emperor is seriously ill. TBH he doesn’t seem like a very good one though he’s young but… other princes were learned and responsible at 14. lol also the empress dowager is the baddie so…
I kinda expect he’ll be fine though
ZSH continues to be the worst & tbh I don’t feel bad for her or shizi & hope no good comes to them 🤷🏻‍♀️

C125 srsly wtf is up with shizi. Anyway I’m so anxious I know this is realistic but FL being clueless & kept in the dark is ARGH. I need a QSCK type FL 😅 … or one like this author’s GNU FL.

C126 I’m v confused/think it’s a translation issue cuz… WHAT are the new roles/titles of the former empress & ~dowager? 🤷🏻‍♀️ anyway it doesn’t matter, ML won 😄😇

End of C134 the guy in the grey OMFG did Zixun really try to kill his dad?! 😱😱😱

C135 ahhhhhhhhhh he FINALLY says he loves her! And lol OMG this really is the most spoiled FL EVER 😹😅🤷🏻‍♀️


Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh c143/previous life 6 - THAT’S HOW IT ENDS?!?!?!?!??! Aahhhhh

Probably a B, maybe B-?

1/2/24 re-read
C55 lolololol FL praising future wangfei thinking it’ll be that bitch, ML laughing cuz FL is unknowingly describing herself. (CUZ YOU’RE NOT CLEAR MY DUDE)
Lol & c56 ML (had his) soldier block the son. But seriously both FL & the concubine were in there what did he hope to do? Have a ménage? Dream on trying to get your adoptive father’s chosen woman.

C86 - MUAHAHA TKO bitches who wanted to climb up to ML’s bed and cause trouble for FL. Even mortal enemies ML & the imperial court put FL first 💯💯💪❤️

C96 lololol her takedown on LYF and adding FOUR concubines in one fell swoop ❤️ and her not trusting that granny spy & being relieved ML won’t depose her ❤️❤️❤️

C101 ugh I actually hate ZSH even more this time around. The only ~good thing about her is she drags down ZZX, that POS.

C104 heh the mistaken shopkeeper seeing ZZX & TSS. C105 the shit sister… I hope this is the chapter with the family too 😹😈😼😇💯

😹😹😹☠️☠️☠️💯💯💯 c108 still makes me wheeze laugh and is one of my favorite scenes it lives rent free in my head lol naughty TSS

Read till after her mom’s visit and into the NY banquet -
C116 ZSH just tattled/betrayed TSS to the (grand)ED & I want to smash ZSH’s face in this conniving POS 😡

C118 welp that confrontation tore all facades to shreds. GO ML! 💪❤️💯 busting in to save the day. Evil empress dowager. 😡 (grand! No authority to interfere in court!)

Oof c120 where TSS is schemed against at the Taifu’s banquet thank god ZCJ appeared in time

C122 like on the one hand I feel like I’m obligated to feel bad for ZSH but on the other hand she lied SO MUCH and SO many times and yeah even schemed against pregnant TSS. So … 🤷🏻‍♀️ TBH I felt most bad about all those precious herbs that will be wasted for appearances sake 😐

C124 emperor died… big moves should be happening in 125

C128 😹☠️ people in the know knowing despite the move into the palace TSS is still the top of the food chain 💯 … and her being petty & visiting the (G)ED. I do feel bad for the ~19 yo former empress though.

C129 ZCJ finally knows about that damn book…

Awwww end of 132 when he promises to be back. But seriously 😡 WTF and why with the estrangement?!

C135 end of formal book - lol I still maintain it’s not so much ZCJ fell into the “beauty trap” as he flung himself into it head first 😹💯❤️

😒 Tbh I really dislike the brat princess I get she’s only 9 but 😡

Screaming! C143!!! The luminous pearls!!! Him claiming all her lives!! Ahhh

[Hellarious · Rating 3 out of 5]

Can’t say that it’s the best book, but it is quite okay. 


The beginning was very good and intriguing. I like the plot and how the situations and MC were unique and interesting. But, the more it went the more slow paces and bored it became. 


At some point of time I was even thinking of  giving up on this book, so boring it was and so annoying the main character was. But in the end I made it. And the extras were very good. I’m very pleased that the author decided to add those. 


Also, I love the ML. His character and decisions are very admirable and I love how it was developing on his side. In this way, MC was much less likable but more unique. 


In short, novel is not bad. Recommend to try it out if you are okay with the genres and tags. Just be aware that is it very slow paced. 

[Cali · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I liked the first half better than the second half but I still enjoyed it. I always enjoy main characters with flaws and Tang Shishi was definitely that. Her main advantage was her beauty and she knew it and she used it to her advantage as much as she could despite not being the sharpest crayon in the box. I kind of disliked the relationship dynamic between her and Jing Wang though. She basically always blamed him for everything and he just calmly accepted it and coaxed her out of her tantrums.

Summary: Tang Shishi and a bunch of other concubines are being sent to Jing Wang's palace by his enemy the Empress Dowager Yao. Tang Shishi was the daughter of the legitimate wife but her merchant father favored his concubine so she grew up being overlooked. Her mother gave a bunch of money to a monk to change her bad fate and he gave them a blank book. However on her way to the palace, the book begins to have writing and Tang Shishi learns that she's just a side character to another one of the concubine's story. Tang Shishi decides she's going to change her fate by getting the favor of Jing Wang's adopted son and becoming his Empress. Only problem is that Tang Shishi is not that smart so despite her best efforts, she doesn't get anywhere with the adopted son but she does catch the eye of Jing Wang.

[Sirene Maris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I fell in love with the ending though. That loop was awesome.

[lo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wouldn’t say this is a perfect novel, but it’s honestly incredibly entertaining. There’s not much I disliked, and I would 100% reread it if given the chance. For me, this is a 4.5-star read — rounding up to 5 because Goodreads doesn’t do halves.

The story follows Tang Shishi, known as the most beautiful woman in the capital — she’s arrogant, assertive, ambitious, and knows exactly what she wants. And I love a female lead like that. She gets sent with a group of palace women by the Empress Dowager, to the household of the Emperor’s brother — under the guise of becoming his son’s concubines. The real goal? To infiltrate and weaken the prince’s power from within.

On the journey north, Tang Shishi finds a mysterious book that reveals she’s a side character in a palace drama — a secondary antagonist fated to die insignificantly while the “real” heroine lives happily ever after. Tang Shishi, being who she is, immediately decides to change her fate. And I loved that. It’s clever and meta, but what really makes it work is that she’s not a transmigrator — she’s still the original character, just someone who now knows what’s coming. That’s rare. One of my biggest gripes with transmigration novels is how the original person gets overwritten and no one seems to care. So to see Tang Shishi try to grow and change as herself was so refreshing.

Her initial plan is to target the adopted son of the prince (who becomes Emperor in the original novel), but in her efforts to seduce him, she ends up catching the attention of his father instead — Zhao Chengjun, the future emperor. From there, things get complicated.

She’s not the most scheming or calculated FL out there, but she’s incredibly adaptable. She works with what she has, and even though she can come across as silly or shallow at first, she’s also ambitious and self-aware. And somehow, despite everything she does, I never found her annoying. I liked her the entire way through. That’s so rare for me. Usually I find female leads in these novels insufferable — too Mary Sue, too overpowered, too bland. But Tang Shishi was likeable in her flaws, in her selfishness. I rooted for her the whole time.

The romance is slow burn (she’s targeting his son at first, after all), but it builds gradually and with tension. I loved how the male lead becomes a complete simp for her by the end. There’s a good mix of palace politics and romantic angst, balanced with a lot of misunderstandings, dry humour, and well-paced emotional beats. It starts to slowly build up chapter 5o onwards.

The best part? It’s a story about two deeply selfish, ambitious people falling in love — and choosing that love over logic, factional loyalty, and self-preservation. Even once they’re together, they’re technically enemies on paper: she was sent as a spy by the Empress’s faction, and he’s a major threat to that power. So every decision they make together is calculated, strategic — but eventually, they end up trusting each other instinctively. Their relationship is built on unspoken teamwork, even before they admit anything.

They’re not toxic. They’re flawed, political creatures trying to survive in a system where sincerity can get you killed. And somehow, they find space for care and love within that. I loved how her motivations were grounded too — she just wanted a better life for herself and her mother. That’s it. Nothing grand, just real human goals.

The cast is all morally grey. No one is purely good or evil. And while politics isn’t the book’s deepest focus, the people are. The characters matter more than the power struggles, and I really liked that choice.

That said, one scene I hated was the attempted abortion scene. Tang Shishi becomes pregnant while Zhao Chengjun is away at war, and his political enemies in the palace try to force her into a miscarriage. He does eventually stop it, but I really hated how powerless she was in that moment. It was upsetting, and I wish it had been handled with more weight or justice.

But aside from that, this was just such an enjoyable ride. Tang Shishi is selfish, vain, ambitious — and I love that about her. I don’t care that she “stole” the story from the book’s original heroine. I would’ve done the same. If you like flawed, compelling characters, romantic tension that feels earned, and meta palace drama with heart, I’d absolutely recommend this.

[Dianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I got sucked in from the very beginning and was always drawn into the story. It took me a while to read because I was traveling and didn't have much downtime to finish the book, but even when I was tired on a long bus ride, this story was able to catch my attention. That tells you something.

The novel follows our female protagonist, Tang Shishi. It's not a transmigration novel, but one day a Buddhist monk gives her a blank book, and at the beginning of the story, the book slowly fills in the chapters one by one as events happen. That's when Tang Shishi realizes that she's just cannon fodder in a novel centered around the female protagonist Zhou Shunhua. TSS tries to do everything she can to change the course of the events of the book and win the attention of the original male protagonist Zhou Zixun, but all of her efforts fail and instead bring her into the eyes of the novel actual ML, Zhao Chengjun. Zhao Chengjun is Jing Wang and older half-brother to the emperor who got screwed over by the Empress Dowager, and the og male protagonist Zhou Zixun is his adopted son.

**Warning: Spoilers Ahead**

The romance is a bit frustrating at the beginning, since Tang Shishi is so focused winning over Zhou Zixun and the ML isn't even on her radar. It's definitely one of those stories where he falls for her first and then slowly wins her over. Even their first time sleeping together happens because she's been drugged due to some schemes, so it's not like some romantic occasion like their wedding night. However, later on it becomes sweet as the ML really dotes on her.

The story itself was pretty funny. Tang Shishi does everything she can to get Zhou Zixun's attention, based on what she can guess will happen from the book's chapter titles, but she does it in her lazy way and always ends up missing out compared to her rival Zhou Shunhua. I also enjoyed how she's misunderstood by the Empress Dowager's people to be on their side helping them sow discord between the ML and his adopted son, when that's not her aim at all.

There is some face slapping in this story but not a ton. Some annoying side characters, like the Xi family whose second daughter also is gunning for the ML, get their just desserts, but I wish other characters I didn't like such as Shizifei, the adopted son's wife, who's completely incompetent at managing the household, or the FL's original family, had more happen to them. I guess it's a bit more realistic this way, since the whole Tang household is now completely obedient to the ML and FL, and her mom is no longer ignored by her dad. Plus the Shizifei does already suffer quite a bit with the miscarriage and the constant comparisons between her and the FL and feeling inadequate.

There was some weird thing going on eventually between Zhou Zixun and the FL. The author doesn't really take it anywhere, but eventually he did develop some desires for her after she became his stepmom, as a woman that he couldn't get. I was wondering if the author was going to go anywhere with that the entire time and was a bit disappointed it didn't come up at all in his betrayal at the end.

[Soo · Rating 4 out of 5]

2025/03/17 Notes:

- Completed LN (2021)
- Ch 143
- Historical Romance
- Harem, Empire Politics
- Good to Great Fan Translation
Est Pages: 1130

The blurb is terrible and not a good summary for the series. I was led astray by it and kept wondering when stuff that's written in the blurb would happen. *shakes fist*

The title is silly and shows the humor that's woven into the plot. This was one of the better historical stories that I've read in a while. The author took the time to insert various aspects of historical culture that made the story rich in details and somewhat clearer in setting.

Why was this story engaging despite uneven story flow? The characters were great! Both female and male leads were ultimately true to themselves from start to finish. They both had a tragic upbringing, but managed to overcome many pitfalls to grow stronger and always worked towards their goals. This lightnovel wasn't about two amazingly talented people. It was about two people that grew stronger in adversity and lucked out to find someone to love in all sincerity.

The running joke in the series was about how Tang Shi Shi would work to gain favor as the arrogant femme fatale and events never quite turned out the way she thought it would. I enjoyed the way she was always scheming, but ended up turning things around because she was always making choices that didn't go against her own code.

There were great layers of meaning and touches of reality woven into the story that I appreciated from start to finish. It was a good romance!

At the end, the author added extra shorts that were fun to read. The last one was a bit of a twist of the main story that was told. A what if scenario that was a ton of fun to read! In the short, Tang Shi Shi lived a life of tragedy and died a silent death in the harem. She turned into a ghost and witnessed a few things that made her understand the truth of her death. Then story magic happened, she ended up going back in time and spent time with a younger Zhao Cheng Jun (male lead) as a ghost. Turns out he could see ghosts as a child and thought the ability went away when Tang Shi Shi showed up in her flamboyant manner. The two became good friends over the next year and she managed to leave him a few key warnings before her spirit faded.

When Tang Shi Shi became aware again, she found herself reborn as a young child, but with all the memories of the life she had lived. She decided to forego the strife she had experienced before and live a quiet life within her hometown.

Zhao Cheng Jun never forgot Tang Shi Shi, found her after searching for years and claimed her as his own.

Quote: She was the pearl he has missed in his previous life, and this life was the love debt he would repay for the rest of his life. Even if in the next life, she was also his destined wife.

The short story was great! I'm not sure if I would have enjoyed it as much without the main story I had read, but it was really interesting story spin. I think I would have enjoyed reading this spin as a main lightnovel.

[Wanmata · Rating 4 out of 5]

ถือว่าเป็นนิยายที่่อ่านได้สนุกพอสมควรเลย สำหรับเรื่องแนววังหลัง + นางเอกรู้อนาคต
ส่วนใหญ่พล็อตจะเริ่มซ้ำ และน่าเบื่อ แต่เรื่องนี้ถือว่าอ่านได้จนจบ

นางเอกเป็นคนสวย และรู้ตัวว่าสวย
เป็นคนไม่ค่อยฉลาด และรู้ตัวว่าไม่ค่อยฉลาด
โชคดีได้หนังสือนิยายเรื่องราวของ "นางเอก" เรื่องหนึ่งมา ซึ่งตัวเธอ เป็นแค่ตัวประกอบอายุสั้นในนั้น
นางเอกจะยอมรับชะตากรรมง่ายๆ ได้ยังไง ก็ต้องพยายามเปลี่ยนแปลงชะตาชีวิตตัวเองดูซักตั้ง

ช่วงแรกๆ ออกแนวตลก เนื่องจากนางเอกจะเห็นเนื้อหาในนิยายช่วงก่อนจะเกิดเหตุการณ์ขึ้น แค่ชื่อตอนนั้นๆ ไม่เห็นรายละเอียด ว่าใครทำอะไร แล้วผลลัพธ์เป็นยังไง
ทำให้นางเอกตัดสินใจทำอะไร (ตามสัญชาตญาณ และ common sense ของคนปกติ) แล้วโบ๊ะบ๊ะ ผิดฝาผิดตัวตลอด
จนเริ่มสงสัยว่า ทำไมนางเอกในเรื่อง ตัดสินใจทำอะไรประหลาดๆ จังฟะ หรือนั่นคือวิถีนางเอก คนที่คิดแบบปกติอย่างเธอ เลยได้เป็นแค่ตัวประกอบ

ช่วงกลางมีดราม่า และหลังจากคลายดราม่า ค่อนข้างน่าเบื่อ เป็นช่วงพระเอกตามใจเอาใจนางเอกสุดฤทธิ์ (ไม่ใช่แนวที่เราชอบอ่าน)

ช่วงหลังก็แนวชิงบัลลังก์กันไป มีบทตื่นเต้นเล็กน้อย แต่ไม่ต้องลุ้นอะไรมาก
จบดี Happy Ending
มีบทเสริมต่อท้าย เป็นจักรวาลคู่ขนาน (สมัยนี้คงต้องเรียกว่า multiverse) อีกเรื่องหนึ่ง เขียนเพื่อแก้ข้อติดค้างบางเรื่องของพระเอกนางเอก ก็น่ารักดี

อ่านแล้วรู้สึกว่าโอเค อ่านได้เรื่อยๆ มีช่วงน่าเบื่อบ้าง ก็อ่าน skip skip ไป (จะใช้ไม้ยมก กับภาษาอังกฤษก็รู้สึกแปลกๆ)
ข้อดีของนางเอก คือ เป็นคนมุ่งมั่น ตั้งใจจริง ยอมรับชะตากรรม แต่ไม่ยอมแพ้ ทำตัวเองให้ดีที่สุด
รู้จุดแข็ง และจุดอ่อนของตัวเอง แม้จะอยากเอาชนะ แต่ก็ไม่ได้เป็นคนร้ายกาจจนทำร้ายคนอื่น

ประเด็นที่ไม่ใช่แนวเรา คือ นางเอกสวย สวยมาก สวยที่สุด ถึงจะนิสัยไม่ดี เอาแต่ใจ พูดจากับสามีไม่ดีอย่างไร สามีก็เอ็นดู รักเอาใจใส่ไปตลอดกาล
ไม่ใช่ว่าเราต้องการให้นางเอกเป็นเบี้ยล่าง อดทน ยอมรับ เป็นผู้หญิงยุคสมัยทีี่ไม่มีปากไม่มีเสียง ได้แต่เลี้ยงลูกไปวันๆ แต่เราคิดว่า การให้เกียรติกันระหว่างสามีภรรยา มันควรจะมีมากกว่านี้
แต่นี่ก็อาจจะเป็นความจริงของโลกเราอีกอย่าง ถ้าคุณสวย ต่อให้คุณนิสัยไม่ค่อยน่ารัก เอาแต่ใจยังไง ผู้ชายก็อดทนเพื่อคุณได้อยู่ดี (ไม่สวยก็เหนื่อยหน่อย ฮ่าฮ่า)

[Sammie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed parts of the novel but most of it left me wanting. The most glaring was that I couldn't get a handle of the female lead's character. She's clever and scheming but also a ditz. It was funny in the beginning when everyone kept wrongly assuming her motives but later on, I think the author forgot which setting she was supposed to be on. Her "cheat ability" was also pretty useless. She read about scenarios that had already happened or were happening and never managed to change anything significant. The only good that book really did was near the end and it wasn't her using it.

The palace intrigue parts were okay. There was a lot of foreshadowing for the big confrontation with the Empress Dowager but then it ended almost as soon as it began. Even the issue with the Shizi was really short-lived. It was neatly closed but also a little anticlimactic.

The first half was really much better than the second. The frequent misunderstandings the main leads had with each other was annoying but also pretty funny. Later, when they are officially together, their relationship dynamic is less fun. For the life of me, I don't understand what the male lead sees in the female lead to make him accept all the scolding and ill-treatment he gets. I'm missing the moment when these two fell in love with each other. It was a slow slope in love for the male lead but what about the female lead? She was chasing another guy for most of the beginning and then she acts like the male lead owes her a thousand lifetimes.

This book was okay overall. I've read many better ones with similar plots. If the genre is new to you, I say read. It's short and ends neatly with a HE. If you're already neck deep in this genre, I'd say pass.

[Staring At A Star · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this author - coming from "greetings, ninth uncle", you can see some common threads. The bonds of adoption vs birth, smart and deep husband who falls mindlessly in love, imperial conniving, legitimate vs illegitimate child, reversing the story.

However, the female lead in this story is much dumber, which in some ways feels more realistic. Many times, people are treated unreasonably well just because they're prettier, not because they're really intelligent.

 

Perhaps it's because I just finished a great story by this same author, but the mindless FL who needs to be indulged in every way didn't bother me at much as it should have. Honestly, this would be the ideal story for one of those plot-fixing-transmigrators. Neither the Mc nor the FL really deserve their happy ending. The FL only has her beauty, but immediately steps on everyone when she is favored. She needs someone to rescue her in every situation, and is the standard helpless female dependant on her lover. The Mc has awful double standards and no empathy. He keeps reprimanding and being disappointed in his adopted son because he can't control who he loves, but at the same time, whole-heartedly self-indulges in a woman he knows is vain and greedy and petty. It's not even that he is in a more stable situation than his adopted son - he manages more and is working on a rebellion that could mean life or death for all his followers. They're honestly very unsympathetic people.

However, they are written quite well, and I found myself enjoying the story even if I didn't really like the protagonists. The plot was interesting and the pampering / face slapping was satisfying.

I liked the extras - I feel like it revised and fleshed out the original story for the FL.

[Humbledaisy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A re-read.

Life as a beautiful woman in ancient China can be hard or easy- it all depends on which path you take.

Heroine Tang Shishi grew up as a minor daughter in a well off merchant household. Engaged since childhood to a neighborhood scholar, she strives to learn enough to accompany him as a dutiful wife. Life is dull but not uncomfortable.

Her life changes gear, however, when she’s chosen in the Palace draft as a possible concubine or Palace maid. Here, her beauty and education make her the perfect choice to head a delegation of ten possible concubines sent to live with the current child emperor’s adult (and dangerously talented) uncle. Yep, the Empress Dowager is hoping to kill him with kindness with Tang Shishi as the center of a honeypot trap.

She’s ready to fight her way into the heir’s bed when - she unexpectedly finds a unfinished novel. A novel where she’s NOT the heroine and where her character dies miserable and alone.

Not quite ready to believe this, Tang Shishi decides to ignore her designated target (the book says he’ll be emperor one day) and grab - his curiously young father. No body gives a Queen Mother a hard time so why not grab a comfy berth in the future?

No sooner than you can say “butterfly effect”, Tang Shishi’s life begins to change dramatically from the plot in the book and no one else can understand how this happened.

Except, maybe someone else has read the book as well?

Funny and well written with quite a lot of historical background, this was originally a web novel.

[Jena · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating Chinese romance novel. I read it using the Chrome page translator. It wasnt perfect, but you could still understand everything that was going on.
I'm obsessed with this author's heroines. Just the way she makes them flawlessly outside but ugly and raw inside is astonishing.



What's unique about this story is that you get to read a romance novel from a 2nd Female Lead's PoV. She is, of course, the Female Lead (h) in this book, but her character and what happens to her is your typical bitchy OW in romance novels, it was hilarious.
I'm giving it 5 stars due to the uniqueness of the plot.




- here's the link to the book https://www.52shuku.vip/yanqing/pm/h2...



- One of the most devoted, "doting" H I've ever read. He sees all her flaws, and this woman truly isnt a good person, but he loves her unconditionally and will always support her even if she's evil.
- SUPER Slow burn
- closed door - not even a kiss scene
- h is stunningly beautiful- comparable to Cleopatra.
- Their first time would be considered a rape (she was drugged- not by the H).
- She tried to rape another man (by drugging him), but the ML caught her and stopped her from completing that scheme.

SPOILERS
safety: No Cheating. No harem for the main couple.
- HEA, yes.
- The ML is the FATHER(24) of the ml in the book (adopted son - 16/17) that she found.
In this magical book, the son is the ml and he falls in love with another woman, but Shishi (FL) tries to break them up so she could marry him to become the empress. What ends up happening is, she spends half the book chasing him(the wrong guy), and scheming to break them up, even though she has no feelings for him. Shishi isnt the brightest, but shes gutsy and fierce, why I found her endearing.
The plot is so twisty that its hard to explain it all, but I highly recommend you giving this book a shot if you're sick of the same vanilla romance. This is not a boring book.

[Courtnee Howell · Rating 4 out of 5]

On her way to join an imperial prince’s harem, Tang Shishi finds a book that details the life and triumph of her competition. Refusing to accept her fate, Tang Shishi makes a plan to stand out in Jing Wang Zhao Chengjun’s palace. But fate makes fools of us all.

This book was completely different than what I expected, simply because it is not a rebirth - at least not in the main story. Tang Shishi is a second female lead of the green tea variety, and the thing that saves her is people making assumptions of her that just don’t match her previous behavior. There was a lot of willful obtuseness going on here.

If you like your heroines to be schemers, heroes to be beauty-trapped, and people with bottom lines, then this is for you.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is great for passing time. Also I didn't understand why people criticized the main heroine. She isn't that stupid and understands the situation well, except she might be a bit selfish, but that also has it's reason. Now, about our "poor" Jing Wang. He suffered a lot from our heroine, but I belive, that he quite enjoyed it. Also, I'd like to praise their relationship in whole. Considering that period traditions and values, and of course court intrigues, our couple's fared quite well. Their caution toward each other was understandable. But! their attraction toward each other was undeniable from the very first minute. So read it, if you want to brighten your evening.

[Ayesha (in a book slump) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was this the best book I've read? No
But it has been a long time since the last time I've stayed up late at night reading a book.
Maybe I'm finally getting out of my book slump?

Overall the book was simple. The FL wasn't exactly likeable, but her characterizations was realistic. The ML was a slightly charming brute with an allure to him. Other characters were okay. The romance was pretty slow, also realistic I believe. The FL was very oblivious for a long time and I swear I could smack her though.

I will say that the part of the synopsis where it implies that Tang Shishi, the FL, was aiming at the the Ml, so that she can be the Empress and then Empress Dowager was almost misleading.

[Tamanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well I have finally finished reading it after dropping for 2 times at first felt FL was really annoying and it felt boring but after first 20 chapters it got intresting how Ml always pampered our stupid but cute FL was really cute 🥰 Later half of Noval was intresting and My favourite part was how Ml took care of FL when she was pregnant and their bantering😆. Its was a good read 😊

[Blanca · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's entertaining: the FL is no white lotus, she tries to scheme and is petty but she's smart enough to know when to be cautious and when to be demanding, the ML is a tsundere.

[Claudia · Rating 4 out of 5]

*3,80

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Non male

[Nellta · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this. I loooove this so much!! Thank you author!

[anya · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐️ funny and cute ! didn’t mine the politics either i found it interesting

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

It started to drag a bit towards the end, but overall I liked it. Very similar to I Became the Stepmother of My Ex-husband but I liked this one a bit better.

[Andressa · Rating 3 out of 5]

honestly, I liked this author book 'greetings, ninth uncle' much more than this one. There were times during the reading, that both the female and male lead pissed me off

[My Huyền · Rating 2 out of 5]

Đoạn đầu tạm ổn. Đoạn sau viết lủng củng quá. Diễn biến tâm lý cũng k ổn định.

[Amy Swanepoel · Rating 3 out of 5]

tang shishi is dumber than bricks but shame it was a fun read

[Sourov Roy · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5/5

[Sunny Butterfly · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was entertaining with a lot more funny moments than expected. It is a good balance of romance, palace infighting and shady in-laws. The main couple’s relationship is sweet. The extra storylines at the end are worth reading and add a bit more fantasy.

[IahMay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Second time read and it's still good.