Transmigrated as a Vicious Matriarch

[Transmigration and rebirth] "The Daily Redemption of a Vicious Matriarch" by Cai Wei Cai Wei [Complete + extras]

Synopsis

[Hilarious + real and fake heiresses + no fighting other women for a man]

Gu Wanning transmigrated into a vicious matriarch and opened her eyes to find four trembling concubines, each lovely in her own way, whether plump as Huan or slender as Yan.

The first concubine excelled at needlework, the second at bookkeeping, the third at medicine, and the fourth was highly skilled in martial arts.

Gu Wanning: Why did that scumbag deserve the blessing of having all these women?

Let me have it!

When Xu Weibei returned from war, he discovered someone had stolen his home out from under him.

"All of you, back off! My wife is mine!"

Chapter 1: Transmigrated as a Vicious Matriarch

"You venomous woman, just you wait!"

Gu Wanning stared up at the carved mahogany canopy of the bed, her eyes wide as though she could not die in peace, a letter clutched in her hand.

She couldn't understand why, after years of accumulating virtue and doing good deeds, she had transmigrated while scrolling through videos of handsome men.

She had become the daughter of a villainous court official and been granted a marriage to Xu Weibei, who had become her own father's sworn enemy at a young age.

The bad news was that, to show his opposition, Xu Weibei had brought four concubines into the residence on their wedding day.

The good news was that Xu Weibei had led troops to the Northwest that very day, leaving the four concubines in Gu Wanning's hands, hers to mold and squeeze as she pleased.

The worse news was that three years had now passed, and Xu Weibei was coming back.

The even worse news was that Xu Weibei had heard how terribly the four concubines had suffered at Gu Wanning's hands. He had written to denounce her as a venomous woman, saying he would settle accounts with her when he returned.

No wonder Gu Wanning had fainted from fright as soon as she saw the letter, just after accepting her new identity.

Who was Xu Weibei?

He was the Marquis of Yingchuan, the only legitimate grandson of the Grand Princess who sat astride her steed with a saber across her lap. A little devil incarnate since childhood, he had grown up to win repeated military honors and behave with savage arrogance. He had even beaten the emperor's own son, the Prince of Qin!

A man like Xu Weibei would surely skin her alive when he returned!

There was one day left before the enemy reached the battlefield—no, the inner courtyard.

That was when Gu "scapegoat and corporate drone" Wanning transmigrated.

No—

Gu Wanning screamed in her heart, the cry tearing at her heart and lungs.

If scrolling through videos of handsome men on her phone was a crime, then her crimes were heinous indeed. But couldn't she at least have been given a quick death?

What should she do? Waiting online, really urgent.

"Madam, Madam, are you feeling any better?" Her personal maid, Er Ya, came in carrying a bowl of medicine. Tears welled in her eyes as she asked the question, her face full of worry.

This was Er Ya, the childhood companion who had grown up with her at the estate and whom she had brought back to the Gu family when she was acknowledged by them.

Those were the original owner's impressions and memories.

"Y-yes, a little better," Gu Wanning said, not daring to let any sign of her transmigration show.

"Even if the marquis is coming back, surely you didn't need to get sick from fright." Er Ya set the medicine by the bed. "I'll feed it to you after it cools a little. His Majesty granted your marriage to the marquis. He may be a marquis, but your father is the Chief Grand Secretary, a Grand Secretary of the Cabinet. It's not as though we married above our station into the Marquis's Residence."

Was this about marrying above my station?

Isn't it that he says I mistreated his concubines and is coming back to settle accounts with me?

"Madam, what's wrong with you today? You weren't like this before." Er Ya's face was a picture of guileless stupidity. "Didn't you say that, as the matriarch, it was your duty to lay down rules for a few concubines? Besides, you didn't starve them, so how have you treated them badly? What's wrong with doing a little work? Can you call it living if you don't work?"

It wasn't as though she had withheld food, either. They could eat their fill of steamed white-flour buns, and chicken, duck, fish, and meat were often served...

To Er Ya, that was a life fit for immortals.

Gu Wanning recalled what her predecessor had done and didn't think Er Ya's breezy account would let her gloss it over.

First, she had laid down harsh rules for the four concubines in the residence.

Never mind the morning and evening visits to pay their respects; every day they also had to recite the "Concubines' Code." For instance, talking back to the matriarch meant kneeling as punishment; disrespecting the matriarch meant kneeling; untidy clothing meant kneeling; slacking off meant kneeling...

In short, the four concubines had probably spent so much time kneeling that their knees had grown calluses.

Second, although she herself was young and beautiful, she didn't want the four concubines competing with her for favor, so she had devised a "venomous scheme."

She had decreed that the concubines must rise at two quarters into the yin hour every day and go to work alongside Er Ya.

Their work included, but was not limited to, feeding the chickens, ducks, and geese. If the steward of the Marquis's Residence hadn't tearfully objected, they would probably have raised pigs too. They also had to sow seeds, transplant rice seedlings, pull weeds, catch insects, and bring in the harvest...

In short, she never let them have a moment's leisure.

After all, what was the point of growing useless flowers and plants in the Marquis's Residence's enormous garden? You couldn't eat or wear them.

The enormous lake could be used for irrigation, so they didn't even have to fight other households for water. Not farming the land would have been enough to make anyone slap their thigh in frustration.

Most importantly, exposed to wind and sun, every one of them aged extremely quickly.

As they were speaking, hurried footsteps sounded outside. A young maid then reported from beneath the corridor eaves, "Madam, the marquis is back!"

The news struck Gu Wanning like a bolt from the blue!

Fuck! This man is as unreliable as the weather forecast. He was supposed to come tomorrow, so why is he early?

"Quick, Er Ya, where are those four? Call them all here!"

She couldn't let Xu Weibei meet the four of them alone first.

If she was present, the four concubines would probably still be afraid of her predecessor and wouldn't dare complain.

She would muddle through for as long as she could.

"They're putting up cucumber trellises!" Er Ya said.

"All right, we'll go there too," Gu Wanning decided at once.

She wanted to show that she was "leading by example" and working too. It would also keep her from facing Xu Weibei directly and give her a little more time to think.

When the four concubines saw the matriarch coming, they knelt while she was still some distance away and lowered their heads. Clearly, the "house rules" were strict and the Concubines' Code formidable.

"You, raise your heads."

Feel the menace of my gaze!

But when the four concubines raised their heads, Gu Wanning nearly lost it.

Each of the four concubines was darker than the last. They were all around eighteen, in the flower of their youth, yet they had been so thoroughly worn down that they had practically been charred.

What would Xu Weibei think when he came back and faced these four lumps of charcoal...?

The first concubine, Li Shi, ventured in a low voice, "Madam, do you wish to tell us what to plant?"