Completed"No frustration, no annoying relatives, just slice-of-life, rural fields, and a cheerful stepmother happily raising children."
Her eldest son would one day achieve the highest scholarly honors, become a prime minister, and wield immense power in court. But now, he was abused by his stepmother, lived in a dog kennel, ate scraps, suffered from chilblains, and was poor and defenseless.
Her second son would become a famous medical prodigy, a disciple of the Ghost Doctor, capable of earning vast sums or destroying entire families with a word. But now, his leg was broken by his stepmother, turning him into a pitiful, humiliated outcast.
The youngest daughter was a true princess mistakenly swapped at birth, a cherished darling protected by the emperor. But now, she was drugged by her stepmother and about to be sold to a brothel, naive and unaware of her predicament.
Jiang Nuanzhi... was this very stepmother. However, she currently didn't have time to overthink; she was too busy. Busy scamming more money... no, earning more money, to brew a pot of chicken soup for the children at night. Then she'd roast two fish, steam some crabs, braise some ribs, braise a pig's trotters, and finally, mix a bowl of gooey meat sauce mashed potatoes to pour over rice.
Li Rong had spent half his life in battle. Upon his victorious return, his entire family was dead, and he, once a young divine general, became a traitor overnight. His former close friends avoided him, and his fiancée abandoned him like a worn-out shoe. The common people he protected spat curses at him, wishing to tear him apart.
He fled with his children to the bitter cold wilderness, where he used his last silver to buy a criminal wife. Unexpectedly, this began a completely different life for him.