The Villain Couple's Daily Grind

Mu Zhaoran, the Holy Maiden of Nanrong, spends a sleepless night awaiting news of the battle between the Heavenly Dao Palace and the Gu King Yanluo. When cultivators breach the palace, her shadow guard Mingling attempts to flee with her, but Mu Zhaoran betrays her, revealing she has allied with the Heavenly Dao Palace. The rebel prince Mu Yinyi arrives with the Sword Venerable Yun Xiaoyang, who kills Mingling. Mu Yinyi reveals that Yanluo is not yet dead but is critically wounded. He then exposes that Mu Zhaoran survives the Heavenly Dao Palace’s Devouring Spirit Seal only because Yanluo has been secretly feeding his own life force to a Heart-Link Gu inside her. Despite her betrayal, Mu Yinyi declares her a criminal destined for execution, citing her past crimes and corruption.

At the public execution, Mu Zhaoran is cast into a cauldron of poisonous gu insects. She witnesses Yanluo’s broken body nearby, realizing she had woven a lock of her hair into a tassel on his zither, unknowingly sealing his fate. As she suffers, Ye Lizhi, the woman Mu Zhaoran had tortured into a miscarriage years prior, appears. Ye Lizhi reveals that Mu Yinyi saved her life, exposing his long-standing betrayal. Overwhelmed by pain and regret, Mu Zhaoran dies in Yanluo’s arms, her soul witnessing the inner monologues of readers criticizing her character as a brainless, vicious trope.

A system awakens Mu Zhaoran, informing her that her world is a novel and she is the doomed female supporting character. To avoid eternal damnation, she must accept rehabilitation and return to the past to atone for her sins. She agrees and is sent back to the day she departed Nanrong for the Heavenly Dao Palace. Upon waking in her younger body, she immediately recognizes General Ye Rong, who will later usurp the throne and kill her parents, and suppresses her urge to kill him. The system assigns her first mission: ensure Ye Lizhi, the female lead, safely reaches the palace, reversing her past obstruction.

On the journey, Mu Zhaoran forces Ye Lizhi into her carriage, ignoring the protests of Ye Lizhi’s half-sister Ye Lingyan. Throughout the trip, Mu Zhaoran struggles against her innate hatred for Ye Lizhi, which triggers painful soul marks whenever she harbors malicious thoughts. She learns that Ye Lingyan had previously betrayed her by providing false evidence against her, while Ye Lizhi’s suffering was manufactured by their family’s cruelty. Mu Zhaoran resolves to protect Ye Lizhi to cleanse her karmic debt, even as she plots to neutralize the threat of General Ye Rong using a blood-bound clay doll, a tool previously used by Yanluo.