Content Warning:
The female lead is flirtatious, greedy, morally flexible, shameless when needed, and knows when to bow her head.
One woman, many men.
Female supremacy; men hold a lower social status.
Men can bear children.
If any of these are deal-breakers for you, feel free to exit now. The author truly wishes to avoid being yelled at.
Everyone else—welcome aboard.
......
Xia'an, Year Twenty-Four.Top Scholar's Residence.
"Sigh—!"
This was already the one hundred and second time Huo Ran had sighed today.
The good news: after being run over by a car, she'd transmigrated into another world—and even landed herself the identity of the top scholar in a matriarchal empire.
The bad news: the original owner of this body had left behind a catastrophic amount of romantic debt, putting Huo Ran at constant risk of being killed at any moment.
Just thinking about it made her grind her back teeth to dust.
Had the original owner really been even wilder than her?
Before transmigrating, Huo Ran had maybe five, six, seven—eight boyfriends at most. But that had only involved admiring abs, stealing a kiss, holding hands. Anything more excessive than that? She'd never dared.
The original owner, on the other hand, had already slept with several men.
Fine. This was a matriarchal world—being a little wild wasn't exactly illegal. But did she really have to be this unlucky?
The Empress's son who'd been lost among the common folk.The Prime Minister's son.The son of her own lifesaving benefactor.
The original owner hadn't spared a single one of them.
And now? The original owner had died cleanly and decisively, leaving Huo Ran to carry the blame.
Thinking about it, she let out another long sigh.
"Sigh—!"
The sound echoed from inside the room. Outside the door, Su Ci, her personal book attendant, stood with an unchanged expression.
Zhao the steward, however, was panicking.
"Attendant Su Ci… what's wrong with our lady?" she asked anxiously.
Su Ci glanced at her coolly. "The master's affairs are not for you to inquire about."
With that, she resumed her role as an unflappable guard at the door.
Zhao the steward choked on her words, her expression turning awkward.
By heaven's conscience, she only wanted to ask whether the lady had time. The estate's account books still needed reviewing.
Over the past few days, imperial rewards and congratulatory gifts from court officials had nearly filled the treasury to bursting. There were also stacks of land deeds waiting for the lady's signature.
Zhao was sweating bullets, but without being summoned, she didn't dare barge in.
Huo Ran, of course, knew nothing about the chaos outside. Inside the room, she was busy grinding her teeth in hatred at the men who'd indirectly caused her car accident.
What had she done wrong?
She was just an innocent little girl!
All she'd done was date a few extra boyfriends. It wasn't like she'd committed murder or arson.
She'd only wanted to give every boy a home. Was that a crime?
Did that really justify getting her run over?
If she hadn't been hit by that car, would she be stuck here now, worrying about her life every second?
To be fair, Huo Ran had wronged those boyfriends.
When they'd discovered she was dating all of them at once, none of them blamed her. Instead, they'd all suspected she was being deceived by someone else.
After all, in their hearts, Huo Ran was a naive, sheltered little girl.
That misunderstanding led to a massive brawl, each of them trying to make the others recognize their place and stop pestering their girlfriend.
Huo Ran, standing there guilty and at a loss, was dragged into the chaos.
And then—quite innocently—got run over.
But that wasn't even the worst part.
According to the original owner's memories, she'd actually been reborn once already. Unfortunately, she'd returned at the worst possible time and ended up scaring herself to death.
If you asked Huo Ran, being frightened to death under these circumstances was entirely understandable.
The problem was that now she was the one stuck holding the bag.
She racked her brain for ages but couldn't come up with a single viable solution.
"Ahhh!"
She screamed at the ceiling and finally gave up.
Nothing in this world is impossible, as long as you're willing to give up.
Fine. She'd live one day at a time.
Who knew? Maybe if she died again in this world, she'd wake up back in her original one.
At that thought, Huo Ran felt strangely enlightened.
She sprang upright in bed in a clean, athletic motion.
"Su Ci! I'm hungry!" she shouted toward the door.
If she had to die, she'd die full.
Hearing her master's voice, Su Ci immediately pushed the door open and stepped inside, stopping in front of Huo Ran.
"Master, what would you like to eat?" she asked, bowing slightly.
Eat?
Huo Ran realized she'd transmigrated in the morning. It was already past noon.
"Bring one of everything the kitchen has!" she declared with a grand wave of her hand.
"Yes. This servant will see to it immediately," Su Ci replied, turning to leave.
After taking a few steps, she heard her master add, "The good stuff. The expensive stuff."
"Yes!" Su Ci answered promptly and hurried off.
Once she was alone again, Huo Ran felt her anxiety fade.
No matter how big the sky or the earth was, eating came first.
Outside, Zhao the steward watched Su Ci rush toward the kitchen and reached out helplessly.
Too late.
Taking a deep breath and bracing herself like someone marching into battle, Zhao turned back and knocked on the door.
"Master, the estate's accounts require your review," she said carefully.
Huo Ran, who'd just finished comforting herself, immediately wilted.
No way. No way.
Don't tell her the original owner had also left behind monetary debts?
She frantically searched through the inherited memories and only found recollections of a poor background and humble origins.
She was finished. Completely finished.
Huo Ran felt utterly miserable.
The emotional debts were impossible to repay—and now the financial ones too?
She might as well die…
That fleeting thought made her eyes light up.
Right. If she couldn't live, she could just die! Die early, reincarnate early!
This was ancient times. There had to be poisons that killed without pain.
She'd have someone buy some poison, eat a full meal, and then end it all.
The more she thought about it, the more brilliant she felt.
Outside, Zhao the steward was still craning her neck, waiting for a response.
Just as she was debating whether to speak again, a voice came from inside.
"Come in."
"Yes!" Zhao nearly floated with relief.
Looking at the chubby woman holding a pile of account books, Huo Ran felt her head start to ache.
Had the original owner really been this extravagant?
So much debt?
She sighed.
"Bring them over. I… will review them."
"Yes!" Zhao moved like the wind, placing everything in front of her.
As Huo Ran reached for the ledgers, she said, "Go buy a bottle of—"
"Master, buy what?" Zhao asked, not hearing the rest.
Huo Ran didn't answer.
Because inside the account book was a detailed list of her assets: silver, treasures, estates…
She flipped through one volume roughly, then picked up another.
Still more.
Another one.
Even more.