Transmigration into Ancient Times: The Plump Concubine’s Rise

Guan Xiyue, a woman from the twenty-first century, transmigrates into the body of an overweight concubine in the fictional Great Ning dynasty. The original owner, born into a destitute farming family, was sold to the wealthy Zhou household for twenty taels of silver to serve as a concubine for the ailing eldest young master, Zhou Zhengye. A Daoist priest had prophesied that a blessed, earth-element woman with a prosperous appearance would cure the young master. Upon arrival, Zhou Zhengye’s health miraculously improves, leading the Zhou family to view Guan Xiyue as a lucky star. However, she is confined to a remote courtyard, neglected by her husband, and mistreated by her maid, Xiaoyun. Her primary concerns are her physical health, the need to lose weight, and finding a way to escape her subservient status.

While recovering from a head injury sustained when Zhou Zhengye shoved her, Guan Xiyue discovers a handsome, injured stranger, Ling Jingren, hiding in her courtyard. Ling Jingren is a military commandant on the run from assassins. Guan Xiyue treats his wounds and uses a modern ibuprofen tablet obtained through a mysterious spirit companion linked to a mole on her temple. The spirit operates a shop where items can be purchased with gold and silver, and Guan Xiyue incurs a debt of ten taels of silver for the medicine. As Ling Jingren recovers, Guan Xiyue utilizes her modern culinary knowledge to improve the household’s food. She cooks braised pork using star anise, a rare spice in this era, which earns the praise of the Zhou family’s head chef and a monetary reward.

Recognizing the commercial potential of her dish, Guan Xiyue sells the recipe and the remaining star anise to Dongkang Restaurant, a rival establishment, for twenty-two taels of silver. This act of independent entrepreneurship triggers a severe conflict with the Zhou family. When Zhou Zhengye discovers the recipe originated from his concubine, he and his parents demand she hand it over. Guan Xiyue refuses, asserting her right to her own property and demanding a shop to manage if she is to be considered family. Zhou Zhengye threatens to sell her, reminding her of her lowly status. The confrontation reveals the Zhou family’s greed and the precarious position of concubines as disposable assets.

Following the argument, Guan Xiyue is punished by having her meals withheld. Undeterred, she devises a plan to secure her freedom. She visits a Daoist temple, where the master cryptically suggests her fortune has been exhausted and that disaster may arise from within the household if she remains. Interpreting this as a sign that the Zhou family will discard her, Guan Xiyue arranges with a slave broker, Madam Zhou, to be sold and then buy herself back. The Zhou family, eager to rid themselves of her insolence and believing her luck has run out, agrees to sell her. They instruct Madam Zhou to purchase her, intending to strip her of her status and send her away. The story concludes with Guan Xiyue facing the transaction, having outmaneuvered her captors through wit and business acumen, setting the stage for her next steps toward independence and a life of her own choosing.