“Future will only set in stone when it becomes the present.”
Wei Liuying is a concubine daughter in Prime Minister’s Residence. A lowly existence with barely anyone who cares for her. She had to rely on her wits and manipulate others to stay alive.
When the main daughter suddenly changed overnight, the others were dragged to keep up with her pace. Wei Liuying was no exception, and she had to adapt to the sudden power structure’s shift inside the residence.
The main daughter laughed and looked at her with contempt, “Trying to scheme at me who knows everything like the back of my hand? You’re nothing more than a villain who’ll die a miserable death.”
When the only one who cared for her was harmed by her father and so-called family, Wei Liuying laughed to Heaven as tears trailed on her cheek.
“If you truly wish for me to be the villain, fine. I’ll be one.”
In the midst of the raging flames of succession’s war and rebellions, Wei Liuying had to stand up for herself and fight for her survival.
The premise of this story is interesting enough. I've read many stories with transmigrated or reincarnated or time-travelling villains/villainesses, and while this is not the first one I've read where the transmigrator/reincarnator/time traveller is not the protagonist, it's still relatively unusual.
Fundamentally speaking, I also liked the attention to detail in this historical setting.
That said however, there were certain language issues, alongside a definite tendency of info dumping, both when it came to descriptions and when it came to providing historical context.
Attention to detail is good, but providing too many details in the narration really kills the flow of a story (alongside my motivation to continue reading it).
It's better to introduce things more gradually, allowing the reader to become more immersed in the story, preferably through the perspective of the protagonist, using the protagonist's eyes to see these details and to mix in the protagonist's thoughts and feelings, making for a more organic presentation of these details.
There's also the aspect of withholding information - like the bit with Wei Xiao Hua. I mean, yes, we could have her POV at the beginning of the story (chapter 3), but if one wants to build more mystery and suspense, one is better off withholding it. The protagonist is Wei Liuying, and we don't really need to know what's up with Wei Xiao Hua that early on in the story. Like, fine, she's changed and is acting strange. But her knowledge of future events doesn't have to be known to us at this point. Instead, it should be hinted at through actions and insinuations, gradually building up towards some sort of grand reveal - for both the reader and for Wei Liuying.
In essence, this has potential, but the execution is so-so.
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