Ling Jingxuan, a once world-renowned doctor and killer, who saved lives with one hand and killed with the other, was feared by both the government and the underworld gangs solely by his name. During an accident, he had transmigrated to become a man who had nothing but the bare walls in his house and two children who looked like ‘buns’. ‘Why does life always go through such ups and downs? Could this life be more miserable?’, thought him while holding his forehead helplessly.
Yan Shengrui, the only prince with a general title in the Qing Dynasty, suddenly changed his sexual orientation in an accident when carrying on a mission. A tough man turned into a wife-con. The royal clansmen all felt much regretful. But no one dared to straighten him, since his concubine was an expert both in medical skills and poison.
“What? Thirty copper coins? Why don’t you just go robbing?”
One day, Ling Jingxuan took the two ‘buns’ to the market for necessities purchase. Hearing the price, the five-year-old little bun blushed instantly with his small hands dragging the worn-out money bag. Ling Jingxuan felt too deep for tears. ‘Son, we earn money to spend! Don’t tell me you wanna save the money for your offspring.’
The last of the last, they bought the cheapest goods with the worst quality among all the selection with the two taels of silver Ling Jingxuan had earned. Looking at the two little buns’ filled with laughter, Ling Jingxuan vowed secretly that one day he would raise them into super stuffed meat buns, and the dandy rich second generation!
Since many people probably won't pick up this novel because of the 'rape' tag so I will explain it a bit.
I don't know why there are so many negative reviews of this novel. Because, damn, this novel is so good. I f*cking fainted on my way home from college because I read the novel with minimum sleep. I would have ended in the hospital if my friend wasn't with me. You see, that's how great this story is.
Well, to be really honest, the first 150 chapters or so are bit cliche with the usual cheap relatives and everything. Many people, including me, probably cursed every few paragraphs because so many things are unbelievable and bizarre in the story. But after the relatives arc is over, everything gets so pumping. MC, Ling Jingxuan, really starts to show his true medical skills and ruthlessness he accumulated in his last life as a top assassin and a top doctor.
Pros:
1. MC is a kind of person who really sticks to his principles.
2. The MC has magic water called 'Crescent Moon Water' which he effectively uses throughout the plot to his advantage.
3. Instead of focusing on just the love between the main couple, the story focuses on MC's relationship with his family, relatives and friends as well as the plot. The story has a lot of couples and all of them have their own distinct love story and all of them add sweet flavor to the story. The thing that especially made my heart warm was MC's love for his family and friends that was equally reciprocated. MC really protects the people who are good to him no matter who. This includes not only his family members but also servants and friends. He always helps them to have better life. He even shook the whole capital with a splendid marriage of his servants.
4. The novel doesn't shy away from showing the scary reality of ancient royal family, war, class system, s*avery, polygamy, gender discrimination and other social evils.
5. The story doesn't brush off any plot and shows everything vividly. The plot is intriguing especially when the royal arc or capital arc starts.
6. The way MC teaches his children is also quite ruthless. At first, I thought it was not good but later I realized how naive I was. I shouldn't judge the story from the modern viewpoint. The MC and ML are not common people so their children really needed the education that is not common. I must say I learned many new things and some of my views have changed.
7. The author has a unique writing style. It's definitely not the 'mass-production' writing style often found in many 'transmigration to ancient times' novels. Although some sentences are really repetitive but after all, it's the author's own style. At least, this fact needs a praise. And, the author seems opinionated about certain things which I personally like. The author has some unique insights to many things which made me feel that I matured a bit. You will understand once you read the story.
8. MC is way too cool. He has become one of my top favorite MCs easily. He is so different from MCs of many novels, BL or not. How?
a. He loves children. A LOT. He is always asking small children of his friends if they want to be his children. Lol. Who doesn't like MCs who love children? Right? b. MC is extremely OP. He has brains, looks, wealth and physical strength. Basically, he has no weakness apart from children. I have never seen any MC or ML love children so much in any story, it's really heart-warming. c. He is a family man. God, he loves his family so damn much, its unbelievable. His family doesn't include only husband and children but also his parents, aunts, uncles, in-laws and grandparents who are nice to him. As long as they are kind, diligent, and nice to him, he will take them under his wing. d. He is extremely kind and loyal to people who love him. I had never seen any MC or ML on any BL story having best friends. You know the kind where they will do anything for their best friend. For example, when his best friend is sad, he will hug him and comfort him. Have you seen any BL story MC or ML actually hugging anyone expect their lover or children? e. He is extremely ruthless. He has a clear understanding of gratitude and resentment. Well, he used to be an assassin in his previous life. He never provokes anyone but if someone harms his family or friends, he will pay them back 100 times. It's really something. f. He is the kind of person who is never shy and always does things at his own pace. He is thick-skinned. You would never think he would get sad at anything but he cries sometimes. Oh, it gets really heart-breaking. Anyways, he is really cool.
9. ML honestly doesn't have much presence at the beginning of the novel. In fact, most of the times, it feels like he wasn't even there. He is very stoic and only cared about MC and the children. He doesn't even talk much. But as the story progresses, he slowly transforms. He becomes more patient and starts to care about more people. He slowly begins to talk to many people about how their life is and so on.
10. There is a sentence in the novel, "Princesses are just raised to be married." As a women, this poked my heart so badly. Not just this sentence but almost all the things in the story painfully points out the status of women in ancient times. They are just chess pieces in men's dream of power or indulgence. Only few of the women in the story are shown to be truly loved by their husbands. Men had many wives and concubines in the ancient times is a fact. In fact, in few countries, polygamy still exists. Because of this many capable women, instead of using their time to do something productive, can't help but use every means to satisfy their husband. Well, this is vividly described in the story.
Cons:
Now let's talk about the cons of the story because there are so many especially in the first arc of the novel. You will find yourself wanting to throw your phone away every five minutes. But if you have the patience and can bear reading the story up to around 150 chapters or so, everything feels worth it. Let's hear my frustrations while reading the story:
1. There is too much dog blood drama. TOO MUCH!!! Especially in the first arc. It was made way too long. It's just full of face-slapping. Even the way MC starts to like ML is awkward. MC keeps on telling that he is cold hearted and only likes one night stands and hates marriage and blah blah blah. But when he sees ML, it seems all his brain cells got fried. The original body of MC was f*cking r*ped by ML for goddamn sake and just left dying for five years. He was out casted from the family due to this. He turned into a fool for whole five years before MC transmigrated. MC just forgets about all of this and without hearing any explanation about the r*pe and the abandonment, he falls in love with ML. What the hell?
2. And let's not forget about the annoying brats.
And oh the eldest twin is so stingy, you won't believe it. But then, he grew up in extreme destitution, so I can understand it but MC gives charge of all the household expenses to a four-year old child. Even when visiting the town, the son carries the money pouch. Wow! And the sad thing is that MC's twins only grow more and more annoying every chapter so much. For example,
3. I also don't understand why the family doesn't move to another village to settle down. I mean, they clearly know that if they build a big house in the village, their stingy ungrateful relatives will surely come to cause trouble. So why still live in the same village?
4. Also some of the teachings of MC to his children are so wrong. He teaches his four year olds to take revenge if someone offends them. Well, it's not exactly a bad thing but let's see how the revenge goes:
Conclusion: Well, there are many ups and downs in the story. Some aspects are plausible but some aspects will make you feel disgusting or make your brain fry. But, all in all, I still gave it 5 stars because now that I look back, these few cons don't really matter much. The essence of the story lies somewhere else.
Recommendations: 1. Banished to Another World 2. The Spiritual Plant Master Transmigration
P.S. Please forgive me for any grammatical errors and typos.
Someone needs to tell the author how annoying his characters can be sometimes.
Especially the MC's kids. Seriously, it's irritating how he talks about money all the time. And the other one only thinks about food. Sometimes I just want someone to yell at them and put them in their place. If you want to make them mature like Yan, fine, if you want them to behave like children, fine too. But he needs to make up his mind.
And also, the MC's parents are annoying with their gullibility and their constant worry about what people will say...
There's also a huge credibility problem; it needs to be reworked.