The General Won’t Live Past Three Months, But After the Bridal Swap, I’ll Bring Him a Hundred Years of Prosperity

Jiang Lingzhi, the legitimate daughter of the late first wife of Minister Jiang, was raised in the countryside after her mother’s death. Her father, Lord Jiang, neglected her, and her stepmother, Chu Shi, raised her adopted daughter Jiang Lingyuan as the favored child. A marriage alliance between the Jiang and Duke Xiao’s families had betrothed Jiang Lingzhi to Xiao Yan, the eldest grandson of the Guogong Fu. On her wedding day, Jiang Lingzhi arrived to find the estate in mourning for Xiao Jingyi, the Duke’s fourth son and the renowned God of War, who had supposedly died in battle. Instead of welcoming her, Xiao Yan and Jiang Lingyuan were discovered in the bridal chamber engaged in an affair, having plotted to humiliate Jiang Lingzhi by replacing her with Jiang Lingyuan.

Refusing to accept this disgrace, Jiang Lingzhi set fire to the bridal chamber to expose the couple’s infidelity in front of the estate’s guests. When confronted, she boldly declared that since she had arrived during General Xiao’s funeral, she was his widow. She demanded to switch her marriage from Xiao Yan to the deceased Xiao Jingyi. Madam Xiao, the Duke’s second wife and the Emperor’s sister, agreed to the arrangement on the condition that Jiang Lingzhi remain chaste and bear an heir for the dead general. Jiang Lingzhi accepted, performing the wedding rites with Xiao Jingyi’s spirit tablet in the ancestral hall.

Immediately after the ceremony, news arrived that Xiao Jingyi had not died but had survived a fall into an underground river and was being treated at Medicine King Valley. He had returned to the estate but remained in a coma with only three months to live. Madam Xiao, desperate to preserve her son’s lineage, begged Jiang Lingzhi to consummate the marriage to stimulate his recovery. Jiang Lingzhi agreed, viewing it as a strategic move to secure her status and wealth within the powerful Duke Xiao household. She successfully consummated the marriage, and the next day, she faced the family with confidence, reclaiming her dowry from Lu Shi, the matriarch of the first branch who had attempted to withhold it.

Jiang Lingzhi’s sharp wit and fierce demeanor won the favor of Duke Xiao and Madam Xiao, while alienating Lu Shi and Xiao Yan. She publicly humiliated Lu Shi by forcing her to petition for children at a temple, exposing the eldest branch’s hypocrisy. Meanwhile, Xiao Yan was punished by his grandfather and assigned to a menial military post. Jiang Lingzhi’s return to her natal home for the bridal visit revealed the depth of her family’s betrayal; her stepmother and adopted sister conspired to force her divorce so they could reclaim her substantial dowry. Her second brother, Jiang Xun, sided with Jiang Lingyuan, refusing to acknowledge Jiang Lingzhi as family and demanding she return to the Jiang residence.

As Jiang Lingzhi navigated the treacherous politics of the Guogong Fu and her hostile natal family, Xiao Jingyi’s condition began to show signs of improvement. The narrative follows Jiang Lingzhi’s transformation from an overlooked country girl into a formidable matriarch who uses her intelligence and ruthlessness to protect her interests. She balances her duty to the unconscious general with her growing influence in the household, while uncovering the conspiracy behind Xiao Jingyi’s ambush and the internal rivalries threatening the Duke’s lineage.