The Villainous Female Supporting Character Who Transmigrated Into The Body Of The Fake Regent’s Wife

Su Qinghe, a modern corporate worker who died from overwork, transmigrates into the body of a cannon-fodder female side character in a melodramatic novel. She awakens in a dilapidated thatched hut in Qinghe Village, facing a human broker who intends to sell her husband, Xiao Hanyuan, to a brothel for five taels of silver. Xiao Hanyuan is the novel’s male lead, the Prince of Zhenbei, who was betrayed and thrown off a cliff half a year ago. He currently suffers from amnesia and is being abused by the original Su Qinghe, a lazy, gluttonous, and gambling-addicted woman weighing over two hundred pounds. In the original story, Xiao Hanyuan regains his memories in the brothel, slaughters his captors, and tortures the original Su Qinghe to death before living happily with the heroine. Realizing she is in immediate danger, Su Qinghe fabricates a lie to the broker, claiming she intended to sell an old ox rather than a person. She successfully diverts the transaction, selling the family’s sick ox for one hundred copper coins to buy rice, flour, and medicine for Xiao Hanyuan.

Despite her efforts to change, the household is in dire straits. The original Su Qinghe had accumulated twenty taels of gambling debt, and vicious enforcers from the gambling den, led by a scar-faced man named Wang San, arrive to collect the money. When Su Qinghe is away gathering wild vegetables and fishing, the enforcers attempt to abduct Xiao Hanyuan to sell him. Though gravely ill, Xiao Hanyuan fights them off with his remaining strength but is ultimately beaten. Su Qinghe returns just in time to stop them, bluffing that she will repay the debt the next day. She then ventures into town, where she discovers her culinary skills can generate income. She sells sugar-roasted chestnuts, a recipe she adapts from her modern knowledge, and successfully negotiates a deal with the manager of Zuixian Tower to sell the recipe for twelve taels of silver, while securing a long-term contract to supply chestnuts at a premium price.

With the money earned, Su Qinghe repays half of the gambling debt and buys medicine and supplies for Xiao Hanyuan. Her behavior confuses him, as the original Su Qinghe was cruel and indifferent. Xiao Hanyuan begins to suspect she has been replaced or changed, but Su Qinghe deflects his questions by claiming a dream from her deceased parents motivated her reform. She also discovers that the original owner had pawned Xiao Hanyuan’s mother’s black jade thumb ring, a symbol of his royal identity, to the gambling den. Knowing that the loss of this ring triggers Xiao Hanyuan’s descent into darkness in the novel, Su Qinghe resolves to redeem it before he recovers his memories. She establishes a business buying chestnuts from villagers at two copper coins per jin, organizing the local collection effort.

Her success attracts the jealousy of her greedy relatives, Wang Shi and Su Daqiang, who had previously seized her family’s land and refused to help when her parents were dying. They attempt to extort money from her and later undercut her chestnut business by offering three copper coins per jin to the villagers. While Wang Shi and Su Daqiang believe they have won by monopolizing the supply, Su Qinghe remains calm, knowing her contract with Zuixian Tower guarantees her market. As the relatives boast about their haul, Xiao Hanyuan’s protective instincts toward Su Qinghe grow stronger, and his suspicion of her sudden transformation mixes with a growing, reluctant trust. Su Qinghe continues to manage her business and care for Xiao Hanyuan’s health, striving to alter the tragic fate foretold in the novel while planning to escape once she is financially secure.